Power Rangers Storm Callers
by Storm2003
Summary: A set of rangers is created in the real world but what happens when the female red ranger must travel through each set of TV rangers to retrieve powerful stones to an ancient sword? What will her heart as a ranger and as a girl tell her to do? PLEASE R
1. Creation

Disclaimer: I only own Lina, Seth, Barry, Lex, Corey, Luke, Zeek, and Alagor. The idea of storm rangers along with all power rangers belongs to whatever company started it. The story "Storm Callers" belongs to me Storm2003 (aka StormCaller2003).

_Okay, they did it to me AGAIN under StormCaller2003, took it down, but I swear I think I've fixed the problem. Just to be safe this will be my only author's note. I'm still trying to rebuild my reviews, so I thank you for your patience. Please read "Love Connection" and anticipate the rest of the Dino Storm Series. God Bless (Storm2003!)_

CHAPTER 1

Creation

Lina Baxter typed away at the computer in her high school computer lab. She was almost finished with her midterm essay when she decided enough was enough for the time being and saved her work to a disk.

"Hey sis, you ready to go?" Seth Baxter of his little sister.

"Yea, I'm coming," she said as she grabbed her disk from the computer. Seth was only a year older than her but she had skipped a grade back in middle school, so they were in the same grade.

"About time dudes," Lex Baxter said to his cousin. His twin brother, Barry, were the same age as Seth.

"So sorry I like to do my homework ahead of time," Lina said sarcastically.

"Hey, don't get technical here," Barry said. The group of hour hiked to their favorite outside café in the park. Kids loved to play football and just lie out on blankets and service would come out right to them.

"I got Seth and Lex!" Corey Thompson yelled as his friends approached.

"I get Barry. Lina are you playing?" Luke Sorensen asked.

"Don't count on it," Lina replied. The five boys engaged in a game of touch football as Lina hit her math homework. She made plenty of time for physical fitness between her martial arts, gymnastics, and dance classes so she didn't feel guilty sitting out a game of football with her male dominated group of friends.

"Hi Lina," came a little voice. Lina turned around to see Samantha Carter, a little five-year-old she usually babysat.

"Hi Sam. Nice shirt," Lina said a little sarcastically. The girl was wearing a T-shirt decorated in the characters of the current season of Power Rangers.

"Thanks, my mom's getting me the entire collection of DVDs of Dino Thunder for my birthday," Sam said. Lina forced a smile.

"That's nice. I'll see you later," Lina said.

"Bye," Sam said. Lina turned back to her homework and groaned.

"What's wrong with you?" Luke asked.

"Everytime I babysit Sam she makes me sit through Power Rangers. I can't believe I was that stupid when I was her age," Lina groaned. Luke just laughed.

"You used to watch it?" he asked.

"Watch it? I IDOLIZED it. Only trouble is, once I grew out of it, my younger cousins got into it and I had to watch it everytime I babysat them. When they moved away, I thought I had escaped it, but no, Sam picked up on it right where they left off," Lina said. Suddenly, a burst of light appeared and huge crowds of alien life forms appeared with one guy in the lead.

"Why does this look familiar?" Lina asked sarcastically.

"Dones, attack!" the head alien said. The aliens attacked, sending people screaming everywhere. Lina and the guys however, attacked them and attacked them WELL.

"Bring it on uglies!" Lex said. The head guy, named Alagor, growled at the teens.

"You're mine," he said as he ran for Lina.

"Lina, watch out!" Seth cried. Lina was about to be sliced when she suddenly disappeared. The guys soon followed, leaving Alagor confused.

"Unfortunately I know who's behind this," he said before disappearing himself. The kids landed with a thud in a strange center.

"Where are we?" Corey asked.

"You're in my home, welcome," said an unfamiliar voice. The kids looked to see a young looking guy in weird, silver clothing.

"My name is Zeek. Welcome rangers," he said.

"Rangers? What television network are you from?" Barry asked.

"I am from the realm where rangers originate. Unfortunately, as you have seen for yourselves, a wretched evil named Alagor has escaped to this realm and is reeking havoc. This is why the real world shall witness it's first team of rangers," Zeek explained.

"Look, dude, I don't know what kind of medication you are on but I'm out of this kuku's nest," Lina said before walking off.

"And exactly how are you to get home when you don't know where you are?" Luke asked. Lina stopped short, sighed in annoyance and walked to them.

"Let's get this freak show on the road because those monsters were sure real enough," Lina said.

"Luke you shall take on the powers of the Black Lightning Ranger," Zeek said before putting the end of his staff over Luke's head. A light burst from it and engulfed Luke. When it died down, he was in a solid black spandex suit with helmet and a gold lightning symbol spread across the chest and abdomen.

"Corey, you are the white tsunami ranger." The same process was repeated but a gold tsunami symbol was on Corey's suit.

"Lex, you are destined for the Green Hurricane powers."

"Barry, you are the Yellow Tornado ranger."

"Seth, you are the Blue Monsoon ranger." The boy all wore their suits and respective symbols with some instant pride. They removed their helmets as Zeek stood in front of Lina.

"Lina, heart of gold and courage of a true warrior, I am proud to bestow upon you the position of leader. Dear child, you are the Red Inferno Ranger," Zeek said before repeating the process. The light engulfed her, then died down, revealing her powerful suit.

"I am living in the ABC Kids Network," Lina retorted sarcastically. Before the guys could respond, the alarms started going off.

"Dones and Alagor are in the park, GO!" Zeek said. The guys all looked at Lina. She groaned.

"Don't make me say it," she said. The guys gave her a playful "look".

"Okay, okay…back to action!" she said. The team instantly teleported to the park. Alagor was enjoying the destruction.

"Mommy, mommy!" Sam cried, searching for her mother amongst the crowd of people.

"I'll find your mother little girl," Alagor declared evilly. Sam screamed as loud as she could as Alagor was about to attack her. Suddenly, a flash came and Alagor dropped his weapon.

"Ow, ow, hot!" he screamed while blowing on his hand.

"Too hot for you to handle?" came a sarcastic voice. Alagor looked up and Sam looked around when a red figure appeared in front of her.

"A power ranger?" she asked happily.

"Nice to have some fans. You might want to go find your mother now," Lina said. Sam nodded in understanding and ran off as Lina approached Alagor.

"DONES! Attack!" he demanded. Lina smirked under her helmet. No dones came to his assistance.

"DONES!" Alagor called.

"They're taking a nap!" Seth said sarcastically. Alagor looked behind him and saw the male rangers standing in front of a pile of destroyed dones.

"This isn't over," he declared before disappearing.

"How cliché," Lina said before rolling her eyes. The guys all ran up to her.

"You okay?" Lex asked.

"Yea, I didn't DO anything," Lina said.

"We caught him off guard. That doesn't mean it won't be more dangerous," Corey said.

"So are we doing this or not?" Barry asked.

"I'm in," Luke said.

"Ditto," Corey and Lex replied.

"I am if you are," Barry said to cousin Seth.

"I'm all for it," Seth said. They all looked at Lina. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Go go power rangers," she said sarcastically before laughing with her teammates. Little did they realize that as soon as they would start the adventure, the true test would come, especially for Lina.


	2. Step Into The Past

Disclaimer: As usual, I only own the Storm Caller rangers, Alagor, Dones, and Zeek. Everything else belongs to Saban.

CHAPTER 2

Step into the Past

Months passed in the storm caller rangers adventures against Alagor. As was predicted by television shows, they had their rough times but for the most part were on top at every mission. However, the last few weeks had been rough. They held their own but Alagor was gaining an edge with every fight.

"This is getting ridiculous," Corey said, carrying his white ranger helmet in his hand.

"If we don't do something soon, we're going to lose our fight against Alagor," Lex said, throwing his green ranger helmet across the floor.

"I'm open for any suggestions that doesn't involve wrecking our command center!" Seth said, screaming at his cousin.

"ENOUGH!" Lina cried.

"I have a suggestion," Zeek said.

"Please tell us," Barry begged.

"There is a powerful sword known as the Gemini sword, seen here," Zeek said, bringing up the shell of the sword on the computer screen.

"When all the gems are put into place, it becomes an unstoppable weapon of mass destruction. I have the shell of the sword," Zeek explained.

"What about the gems?" Luke explained.

"It was felt amongst all mentors that it would be safer to hide the gems. They're hidden amongst all the realms of the power ranger seasons you all see on television," Zeek explained.

"Are you kidding me?" Corey asked.

"No, I'm not. In order to get these gems, one of you must travel through these realms as if the television series you see is in fact reality," Zeek explained.

"Why just one us?" Barry asked.

"We need as many of you here to keep Alagor from traveling to the realms," Zeek said.

"I'll go," Lina volunteered.

"No way, I'LL go," Seth said.

"Excuse you. You may be my older brother but I'm the red ranger and I'm going. I'm leaving you in charge," Lina said, giving her brother a 'look'. Seth backed down and none of the guys argued.

"All right, Lina. Take this," Zeek said, hanging Lina a small hand held device.

"What is this?" she asked.

"It's a special device that will arrange anything you need. Extra clothes, toiletries, money, a place to stay, just don't take advantage of it. It can also manipulate people's minds so you can take on a personality amongst the rangers. There will be times when you develop a special skill to blend in to the scenery, you'll know when to use them. Any questions?" he asked.

"When will I leave each realm and how long will I be in each one?" Lina asked.

"When your mission is finished in each realm, you will receive a two hour notice on the device on when and where your portal will open up. For every day that passes here, I week will pass by in the ranger realms. Are you ready?" Zeek asked. Lina swallowed hard and nodded.

"Careful Lina," Lex said to his cousin.

"Just watch out for people here, okay," Lina said. A portal opened up. Lina took one last look at her team before stepping through it. A flash of light and a burst of wind came before Lina opened her eyes and she was in an open town. She looked down and she was wearing blue jeans and one of her favorite blouses. There was a backpack hanging off one shoulder.

"Welcome to Angel Grove," came a familiar voice. Lina looked behind her and saw Zeek in regular clothes.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I'll show up from time to time to advise on you and things that the device can't. You are registered to start school at Angel Grove High right over there. You are in the Morphin era before Tommy comes on as the Green Ranger. I have you in a room at the nearby hotel, the key is in your bookbag. And your first new power is telekinesis, use it wisely. Good luck," Zeek said before walking off.

"Whoa, whoa, Zeek wait…," Lina said before Zeek completely disappeared.

"Thanks for nothing," she whispered sarcastically before taking a deep breath and walking towards the high school. She managed to find her way towards the main office.

"Mr. Kaplan?" she asked when she saw the man she recognized from TV.

"Ah, you must be Lina. Welcome to Angel Grove High School, follow me," he said. Lina, a little dumbfounded, followed him.

"Your teachers have all your books ready for you, here's your schedule, and right over here is your locker. The combination is written on your schedule, if you have any questions feel free to come find me," Mr. Kaplan said before walking off, leaving Lina a little confused.

"Okay," she whispered before putting in her combination to her locker.

"Hey! Your cute!" came a loud voice. Lina looked to her right, groaning when she realized it was Bulk and Skull.

"Thanks," she said.

"Want to go out tonight?" Bulk asked.

"No," Lina stated simply before walking off.

"Fine! We can always find another girl," Bulk said.

"Yea, another girl!" Skull said. Bulk glared at Skull.

"Shut up!" he cried. Lina just rolled her eyes and looked at her schedule.

"Ms. Applebee. Why am I not surprised?" she asked herself quietly as she walked around the corner, still looking at her schedule until she ran right into something, or someone and fell backwards.

"Ow, I'm sorry," she said, trying to recover from the fall, feeling a mountain of books on top of her.

"No, it's my fault. I couldn't see over my books," a voice said. Lina finally concentrated on who she ran into. She couldn't believe she was staring face to face with Billy, not David Yost, the blue ranger.

'Wow, he's cute,' she thought. Billy gave Lina a small smile.

'Wow, she's cute,' he thought.

OKAY, LINA'S IN RANGER WORLD AND HAS MET HER FIRST RANGER. HOW WILL THE REST OF THE MORPHIN WORLD ADVENTURE GO DOWN? HOW WILL THE OTHER REALMS GO? WILL THE GUY STORM CALLERS BE ABLE TO SURVIVE WITHOUT HER?


	3. Morphin Inferno

Disclaimer: same as Chapter 1 and Chapter 2.

CHAPTER 3

Morphin Inferno

Billy and Lina just gazed at each other, unmoving. Billy was memorized by her shiny dark blonde hair with faint hints of red and intoxicating green eyes. Her smile reminded him of Kim's, sweet and innocent. She seemed to have this way about her that told you she was nice enough but was not a force to be messed with.

Lina couldn't believe how adorable Billy was. His smile was so sweet and his sandy blonde hair went with his sparkling eyes perfectly. She still couldn't believe she was face to face with one of the original rangers.

"Uh, I'm really sorry," Billy said as he grabbed his books from on top Lina.

"It's okay Billy," she said, smiling. He stopped and looked her, frowning slightly.

"How did you know my name?" he asked. Lina scolded herself mentally as she tried to think of an excuse.

"Uh…Mr. Kaplan told me about you," she said, hoping he would buy the lie. Billy hesitated for a second but figured that that was the most logical reason. Lina started to help Billy recover his books and they both stood up.

"Are you new here?" he asked. Lina smiled.

"Yea, I'm Lina Baxter. I'm trying to find Ms. Applebee's class," Lina explained, still holding some of Billy's books. He smiled, a little excited.

"That's where I'm going, social studies, right?" he asked. Lina just nodded and smiled at the blue ranger. She followed him to the classroom.

'I'm here five minutes and I'm already falling for a ranger, wow, I'm pathetic,' she thought as they reached the door. She smiled when Billy opened it for her.

"Thank you," she said. They couldn't stop smiling at each other, even when Billy took his seat and Lina spoke with Ms. Applebee.

"Billy, whose the girl?" Jason asked, smirking at his friend.

"Her name's Lina, she's new," Billy explained as arranged his books.

"Way to go Billy man," Zack said.

"That's a cute blouse she's wearing," Kimberly commented. Trini chuckled.

"I think Kim has found a new shopping buddy," she said.

"Class, I'd like you all to welcome Lina Baxter. She comes to us from…," Ms. Applebee started to explain but Lina intervened.

"Georgia," she blurted out while smiling and trying to keep her cool.

"Well, welcome, you can take a seat behind Billy," Ms. Applebee said. Lina and Billy locked eyes again and smiled at each other. Jason, Zack, Kim, and Trini snickered at the two. The class was a blur to Lina in general. Whether in television or not, the curriculum from 1993 was slightly less thrilling than the classes she took in 2004. No matter how long she stayed there, she knew she would have no problem keeping up with the work. Before she knew it, the day flew by and she was walking out of the school with every intention of tracking down the hotel she was supposed to be staying at.

"Hey! It's Lina isn't it?" came a voice. Lina turned around and smiled when she saw Kim and Trini, decked down in their ranger colors. Lina made a mental note of how happy she was that none of her teammates did that.

"Yea," Lina said smiling.

"I'm Trini and this is Kimberly. Would you like to come to the Youth Center with us? We can show you around Angel Grove later," said the yellow ranger. Lina smiled, seeing a golden opportunity.

"Sure," she said. The three girls started walking towards the familiar hang out spot from the television show.

"So Lina, where'd you get that cute blouse?" Kim asked.

"Old Navy," Lina replied simply.

"Old where?" Kim asked. Lina stopped for a second, realizing that Old Navy may not exist in that realm at that time. She smirked.

"It's a popular store in my hometown," she explained as she followed the girls into the main part of the Youth Center.

"Hey guys!" Trini called to Jason and Zack. The Red and Black rangers were helping Billy with his sparring sessions.

"Hey Billy," Lina called. The blue ranger took his attention from Zack and Jason and just smiled at the new girl, waving at her. Jason and Zack just snickered.

"What?" Billy asked.

"Bro, you have got it so bad for the new girl," Jason said.

"Why don't you just ask her out?" Zack asked.

"I don't know…I just met her…and it's not really my style," Billy said. The guys continued to pester Billy as the girls engaged in conversation.

"Billy seems to have taken quite a shine to you," Trini said.

"Yea, I have never seen him that way around a girl," Kim said. Lina smiled and blushed, glancing over at the blue ranger.

"Well he seems really nice," Lina commented.

"He is, he's one of the sweetest guys at Angel Grove High," Trini said. Lina was about to ask them about Billy more when she heard the familiar beeping from their communicators. She decided to play it cool.

"What was that?" she asked of the now hesitant female rangers.

"Our beepers, we have to go call our parents. We'll be right back," Kim said before she and Trini rushed out of the Youth Center, followed by the guys. Lina said.

"Show time," she whispered, whipping out the device Zeek had given her. She pressed in a few codes and followed the directions to Angel Grove park where her new friends were clad down in their spandex suits, fighting putties and Goldar.

"And how exactly am I supposed to help in this?" she asked of herself as she hid behind a tree.

"Morph," Zeek said suddenly. Lina rolled her eyes and didn't even budge.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but won't they get suspicious when there are TWO red rangers?" she asked.

"Unless you start to help them as a ranger, you will never find that gem," Zeek said. Lina let out an annoyed sigh and stood straight.

"Okay, okay….STORM CALLERS GO! POWER OF THE INFERFO!" she cried, becoming engulfed in a fiery blaze.

"You will never defeat Rita, rangers!" Goldar declared. He became distracted when a fire engulfed a huge round of putties.

"What in the world…?" Jason asked.

"Ready or not….here comes the fire!" Lina declared, gathering the attention of putties, rangers, and Goldar alike.

WHERE WILL THE FIGHT GO FROM HERE? WILL LINA SLIP AND REVEAL THAT SHE KNOWS WHO THEY ARE? HOW IS SHE SUPPOSED TO GET THE GEM? WHAT WILL HAPPEN BETWEEN HER AND BILLY?


	4. Revelations

Disclaimer: same as before

CHAPTER 4

Revelations

"Ayiayiayiayiayi! Zordon, are you seeing this?" Alpha 5 asked of his tubed friend.

"Yes Alpha, I have a feeling this day would come when we would encounter a new ranger of a different short," Zordon replied.

"Different? It looks like he has the same agenda, fight the bad guys by wearing spandex, but look at those attacks," Alpha said, as he turned back to the viewing globe.

"This new red ranger is not a male Alpha. Whoever she is, we must assure she is on our side fully," Zordon said. Meanwhile, Lina was kicking seriously butt as the other rangers tried to recover from their shock.

"Who got the memo on the new red ranger and didn't tell anyone!" Zack screamed at his fellow rangers. He punched two putties at once and proceeded to continue the fight. Kimberly and Trini tumbled everyone in their naturally graceful ways to avoid getting punched or attacked by the putties. Billy and Jason were in their own fights while Lina continued to fight against Goldar.

"Where did you come from ranger?" Goldar growled.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Lina asked sarcastically. Goldar screamed in annoyance and proceeded to attack Lina, yet again unsuccessfully. Lina was beyond his skill so he decided to get at least one strike in.

"All right red ranger, if you want to play like that than try this," Goldar said before firing an energy blast in Billy's direction.

"NO!" Lina screamed before attempting to run towards Billy. Goldar was not aiming very well so he knew it would not hit Billy so as soon as he fired the energy ball, he struck the closest part of Lina to him, her right arm.

"AH!" Lina screamed as she doubled over in pain, feeling the blood start to pour from her wound.

"That will teach you to mess with me red ranger," Goldar said before disappearing, along with the putties. It took the original rangers a second to realize what was going on but not Lina. She panicked and instantly teleported herself back to her hotel room. She collapsed and her suit disappeared.

"AH!" she screamed as she made her way to the bathroom for towels to stop the bleeding. She couldn't go to the hospital. Even if she could reveal herself as a ranger, she ran the risk of exposing the others and she couldn't do that. She grabbed a handful of towels and wrapped them tight around her arm. Meanwhile, the rangers had retreated back to the Command Center full of questions.

"Zordon, who was that?" Jason asked.

"Alpha and I are not sure about the true identity of this ranger or of the inferno power origins. However, we are investigating ways of finding this out. In the mean time, I need for all of you to return to your regular lives and go about your normal schedules. Be on the look out for any suspicious activity that may lead us to finding the identity of this new red ranger," Zordon said. The other rangers fell silent, very confused about what had just happened. The next day at school, it still plagued their minds.

"Is it wishful thinking to hope this new red ranger is a girl?" Kimberly asked Trini as she grabbed a book out of her locker.

"Why would you want it to be a girl?" Trini asked.

"I mean, I love the guys don't get me wrong, but it would just be cool to have an even ratio, ya know?" Kim asked. Trini chuckled and silently agreed.

"Hey Lina, are you okay?" Trini asked. Kim looked up to see their new friend stumbling towards her locker that was close to theirs. She was clammy and very pale.

"Yea, I'm fine, just a little tired," Lina whispered, not really saying much else.

"Okay, we'll see you in class girl," Kim said before she and Trini walked to Ms. Applebee's class, both unsure if they should've believed Lina.

"Hey Lina," came a familiar voice. Lina looked up and smiled at the Blue Ranger.

"Hey Billy," she said, feeling a little bit better by just seeing him.

"Look, I know this is kind of a sudden question, but there's a dance on Friday and I was wondering if you would like to be my date?" Billy asked, surprising Lina because he didn't stutter.

"I would love to go with you Billy," she replied just as the bell rang. Billy's face broke out in a bigger smile.

"Great, well, uh, I'll see you in class," he said, smiling at her again before running off towards the same class as Trini and Kim. Lina clutched her right arm and leaned against the lockers.

"If I don't collapse first," she said before grabbing her book out of her locker and walking to class.

About twenty minutes later, they were in the middle of their social studies class. Lina was giving everything she had into concentrating on the class. She was causing enough suspicion already, she didn't need to push it over the edge by passing out in the middle of class.

"Lina, are you all right?" asked a voice. Lina snapped out of it and saw Ms. Applebee looking at her in concern.

"Yea, I'm fine, why?" Lina asked.

"Your bleeding dear," Ms. Applebee said. Lina looked down on the floor to see a small pool of blood had indeed formed around her desk. She removed her hand from her arm and saw blood all over it. She panicked, grabbed her bag, and ran out of class, attempting to make her way out the school entirely.

"Hello Inferno Ranger," hissed a voice as Lina went into the main hallway. She glanced up and saw Golder before her. She wanted to morph, but the loss of blood was getting to her and she soon felt herself passing out. Little was she aware that before Goldar or the putties could do anything, Zordon and Alpha had teleported her out of the school.

"Darn you Zordon!" Goldar called. He and the putties vanished just as Zack, Trini, Kim, Jason, and Billy came running around the corner. It had taken them a few minutes to be able to get out of class without causing suspicions.

"Did he get Lina?" Billy asked in concern.

"No Billy, we have Lina here. All of you, please come to the Command Center," Zordon said. The rangers hesitated as they looked around, making sure the coast was clear. When they were sure, they teleported to their Command Center, only to Lina unconscious on a medical table with Alpha looked over her.

"Rangers, I would like to introduce you to the Red Inferno Ranger, the girl you know as Lina Baxter," Alpha said. The rangers were stunned. Billy was beyond stunned, he was kind of hurt. In a way, he wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel.

THEY KNOW WHO SHE IS BUT WILL SHE BE OKAY? HOW WILL BILLY REACT WHEN SHE COMES TO? WILL SHE GET THE GEM? HOW WILL THE REST OF HER ADVENTURE GO?


	5. End Of Round One

Disclaimer: the usual……….thanks to everyone who is reviewing.

CHAPTER 5

End of Round 1

Lina's eyes slowly fluttered open. She moaned as her head throbbed in pain. She was still weak from the loss of blood but tried to get up from her table anyway.

"Aiyiyiyiyiyiyi, she's awake Zordon!" she heard a voice screech. Lina's took the time to adjust her eyes before realizing that she was in the Command Center.

"Welcome Lina," came a powerful voice. Lina turned her head to see Zordon. She smiled softly.

"Thanks for rescuing me," she said as she carefully got off the table.

"We are happy to see that you are all right, Lina," Alpha said. She smiled at the friendly robot.

"Thanks Alpha. I guess I have some explaining to do, huh?" she asked.

"I'm sure the rangers will understand anything you have to tell them. My only concern is to make sure you get better," Zordon said.

"I feel better Zordon. I'll feel even better when I have a chance to talk to everyone," Lina said.

"Will now be okay?" came a familiar voice. Lina turned to see Billy lingering in the shadows nervously. She smiled but didn't say anything, afraid of what he thought of her now.

"Aiyiyiyiyiyiyi, Billy. You should be in school," Alpha said.

"I have a free period Alpha. Zordon, can I take Lina to the lake so we can talk?" Billy asked.

"On the condition that you teleport her here immediately if she feels any pain," Zordon said. Billy nodded, agreeing with Zordon's terms. He smiled at Lina and offered his hand. She gladly took it and they were off. Twenty minutes passed by and the two were sitting next to each other near the lake, Lina had told Billy everything about her ranger team and where she was from.

"So you have no idea how long you'll be in one place?" Billy asked.

"No I don't. When I find the gem I get a two hour warning about when the portal to the next realm will open up. But one week in these realms equals a day in my time, so that's why things seem so out of whack," Lina said.

"And why I feel like I've known you longer than I have?" Billy asked. Lina blushed a little and smirked, getting caught off guard by Billy's question.

"Yea, I guess that works too," she said. There was an awkward silence before Billy posed his next question.

"So how do you get these gems?" he asked.

"It depends upon the gem itself. There's a reason for me to have each one and for all I know, I may learn that reason without doing anything in my ranger suit," Lina explained. There was more awkward silence before Lina took her turn to break it.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to school?" she asked, smirking. Billy gave an evilly, playful smile.

"I think I may be a little rebellious for one day," he said. Lina just laughed and the two enjoyed the rest of the day together. They didn't realize how much time had passed until they were interrupted at the park.

"BILLY!" cried a familiar voice. The two stopped walking and turned to see the rest of the rangers running towards them. Lina suddenly became a little shy at their prescence.

"We've been worried Billy," Trini said.

"Yea, man, you didn't come back to school," Jason said.

"Well, I was spending some time with Lina," Billy explained. The rangers focused on their new comrade.

"Are you sure you should be out and about Lina? That was a pretty nasty cut," Kim asked. Lina relaxed a little as the rangers were more concerned about her than her ranger powers, but she knew she would still have to explain the whole ordeal to them.

"Well, I do feel like sitting down. How about we get some icecream and I tell you guys my story?" Lina suggested.

"Sweet, I could go for some icecream!" Zack said. Over the next few hours, Lina hung out with all the rangers and told them her story, which they surprisingly took well. She was skeptical and careful about how much to tell them. Later on that night, Billy was walking her back to her hotel and she was staring off into space.

"Lina, are you okay?" he asked. Lina snapped out of her trance.

"Huh, yea, yea, I'm fine," she said. Billy looked at her in concern.

"No you're not. What's wrong?" he asked. Lina took a deep breath.

"I just don't know if I'm cut out for this mission Zeek sent me on. I mean, why haven't I found the first gem yet? What if I don't find all of them in time?...," Lina ranted before Billy cut her off.

"What if you just live your life the best way you can in these realms and let the adventure unfold before you? You can't bring it to you, you have to live it," Billy explained. Lina relaxed a little and smiled at him.

"You're right. I guess that's why you're the smart one in the group," Lina said. Billy chuckled. They didn't realize until just then that they were at the hotel.

"Well…good night," Billy said.

"Night Billy," Lina said quietly. She quickly gave him a kiss on the cheek before walking into the building, looking back to give the shocked blue ranger a small wave. He smiled and waved back. Lina made it to her room and collapsed on her bed.

"He's right you know," came a familiar voice. Lina opened her eyes and got a disgusted look on her face.

"Hello Zeek," she said sarcastically before rolling over to look at him across the room.

"You're doing just fine Lina, you won't always have to fight monsters to get these gems. Sometimes just learning a life lesson is all the gems want you to do. The boys are doing fine, they believe in you, as do I, and so do the rangers," Zeek explained. Lina just sighed and sat silently as Zeek disappeared back to her dimension. She sat back into the pillows and looked out her window. She still wasn't sure what to think of everything.

The night quickly shifted into the next few days. Lina didn't return to school for a couple of days on Zordon's orders but she did hang out with the rangers more. She became great friends with all of them and when she could, helped out in ranger cases. She was overjoyed when Trini and Kim gave her a picture of her and all the rangers together. Friday, she returned to school but did not get a chance to notice something until late that afternoon, she was flipping through her notebook when she fell upon something that had been in the same pocket that the picture Kim and Trini had given her had been in. She pulled them both out. One picture of her with her own team and one of her with the morphin rangers.

"I miss you guys, I promise I won't let you down," she whispered to her picture. She suddenly felt something hot in her pocket. She reached in a pulled out a shining gem.

"What..?" she whispered in dismay.

"Congratulations," Zeek said. Lina jerked her head to see him standing right beside her.

"How?" she asked.

"You always strive to keep your promises and not to let anyone down Lina, but in order to do that as a ranger, you have to have confidence in yourself. You tend to lack that as times. The reason the gem showed up is because you swore not to let anyone down, which shows you believe in yourself enough to not let it happen. But take note, it won't always come THIS easy. You have two hours before the portal opens up outside the Youth Center," Zeek explained.

"But the dance….," Lina said.

"Will be the perfect place for you to say goodbye. I'm sorry Lina, but this is how it has to be sometimes," Zeek said. Lina felt like her heart was breaking as Zeek floated away. She bit her lip, unsure of what to do. Less than an hour later, the music was blaring at the Youth Center. Zack and Trini were dancing together while Kimberly and Jason were showing off their moves. Billy was standing patiently next to the refreshment stand. Lina came in through the door and saw him. She almost didn't walk over to him, fearful to tell him that she had to leave, but she knew it wasn't fair to not tell him. She gathered up her strength and walked over to him.

"Hey Billy," she said softly. Billy's face broke into a wide smile when he realized she was there.

"Hey Lina, what's wrong?" he asked when he realized she wasn't her usually happy self.

"I got my gem today," Lina explained.

"That's great," Billy said, less enthusiastic when he realized that meant she was leaving. They were silent, as they felt like they were about to cry.

"I only have an hour, so let's not waste it," she said, gathering her emotions and grabbing Billy's hand, pulling him onto the dance floor. They let her departure leave their minds for a little bit so they could just enjoy being teenagers. Before they knew it, Lina had to go outside. They acted like they were just going out for some air and Lina waved to the other rangers, unaware to them for the last time. The blue and red inferno rangers walked hand in hand a little ways away from the Youth Center before stopping.

"Will I ever see you again?" Billy asked. Lina couldn't take it anymore, she let a few tears fall.

"I don't know," she said. Billy pulled her into a hug and ran his hand over her back comfortingly. Lina had never felt vulnerable before but she didn't care at the moment. She had grown to really care about Billy in the short time she was there. Suddenly a burst of light appeared. The two turned to see the very portal Lina had to leave in.

"I hope I see again someday," Lina said to Billy. She leaned in and captured his lips in a passionate kiss. They parted and just gazed at each other.

"Say goodbye to the others for me," she said before running into the portal and disappearing before Billy's very eyes.

"Good bye Lina," he whispered. Lina wasn't sure how much time really passed while she was in the time warp but before she knew, she was back in Angel Grove, but she knew it was a different time. She wiped the tears from her face and pulled the device Zeek had given her from her jeans pocket. She would never get used to being in different clothes once she was in a new realm. She pressed in a few codes so she knew where she was.

"Zeo days….before gold ranger arrives…Billy is still working in the Command Center," Lina reads before breaking into a huge smile and having to suppress a joyful screech. She heard some rustling behind her and turned only to see a whole mess of Cogs.

"Not the welcoming I wanted," Lina said sarcastically, before getting into a defensive stance.


	6. Welcome Back

Disclaimer: the usual……………..

CHAPTER 6

Welcome Back

Lina fought the cogs hard and well, but they just kept multiplying before her eyes. She was winning the fight but she was tiring easily, she had forgotten how much time warping wore her out.

"This is nuts," she said as she managed to get a moment to catch her breath.

"HIYA!" came a scream before flash of pink and yellow crossed Lina's line of vision. She looked around and saw the pink and yellow zeo rangers engaging in battle followed closely by the blue and green zeo rangers. The red ranger stopped, seeming to be the only one who saw Lina.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked. Lina silently nodded.

"You might want to get to safety," he said before turning to the battle.

"Okay, thanks Tommy," she said before running off. Tommy stopped running and turned to watch the girl run off.

'Did she just call me by my first name?' he asked himself. Meanwhile, Lina silently cursed herself for that slip up and just kept running, knowing this was one fight the rangers could win without her. She would've kept running but she was engulfed in light suddenly and wisked away. When the light died down, she saw that she was in the new Command Center.

"Aiyiyiyiyiyi, Lina? Is that really you?" asked Alpha 5. Lina smiled when she saw the familiar faces of Zordon and Alpha 5.

"Alpha, Zordon, it's so good to see you," she said before giving the small robot a hug.

"Welcome back, Lina. It's been two and a half years since you have been here. The rangers greatly missed you after you left," Zordon said. Lina's heart sank a little as she felt guilty for not saying a proper goodbye to all of the original rangers. She was glad she still had their picture though.

"I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye to all of them. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to meet Aisha either," Lina said, recalling that at this point the second yellow ranger would have handed her spot over to Tanya, remaining in Africa to help with the animals.

"Well, you have yet to meet the current zeo rangers, Lina, but there is someone who will be happy to see you. He's in the zord bay," Zordon explained.

"Down the hall and the second on your right," Alpha said. Lina just smiled at the two and ran down the hallway.

"Ah, young love, isn't it great Zordon?" Alpha asked excitedly. Zordon just chuckled at his young friend. Lina found her way to the Zord bay, becoming very overwhelmed by the number and size of them. She heard clanking somewhere and followed the noise. She smiled when she found Billy bent over some wiring panels.

"Well that didn't take long, how was the fight?" he asked, thinking it was one of the Zeo Rangers. Lina just smirked.

"The other rangers are taking care of it," she said. Billy stopped what he was doing and carefully turned around at the sound of the voice. His eyes widened in shock and happiness when he saw who it was.

"Lina," he said, dropping all of his tools and nearly jumping out of his chair. He engulfed her in the tightest, most possessive hug he could lay on her. Lina couldn't stop smiling as she hugged the former blue ranger. After several minutes, they separated and Billy just framed her face with his hands, pure excitement rushing through him as Lina could tell by his smile.

"I can't believe it, I didn't think I'd ever see you again," he said. Lina just smiled.

"Same here," she whispered. The two embraced in another hug before deciding to walk back to the main part of the Command Center, hand in hand.

"So I slipped and called Tommy," Lina said, after explaining the story of her arrival. Billy just chuckled.

"Well, it's not like we wouldn't have some explaining to do for the others," Billy said.

"Do you miss it?" Lina asked. Billy frowned a little.

"Miss what?" he asked.

"Being a ranger," Lina replied simply. Billy sighed, looking down. He looked back up, meeting Lina's gaze and they both smiled.

"Sometimes. I mean, I feel really useful in the Command Center, but being a ranger changed for the better as a person and I'll never forget that," Billy said. Lina just smiled at him. Their gazing at each other lasted for several moments before Billy leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on Lina's lips. Lina returned the kiss whole heartedly as she wrapped her arms around Billy's neck and his went around her waist. The kiss intensified as their tongues fought against each other. Lina didn't realize Billy had missed her that much.

"WHOA!" came a voice. The two separated quickly only to see Adam, without his helmet on, staring at the couple, shocked at what he walked in on. His mouth was wide open, not knowing what shocked him more, seeing Billy make out with a girl or having a strange girl in the Command Center. He didn't know what else to do besides walk back into the main part of the Command Center. Billy and Lina just glanced at each other, slightly embarrassed before following him.

"Adam, what's wrong…who is that?" Rocky asked, turning his attention from his shocked friend to the strange girl holding Billy's hand.

"Apparently a REALLY good friend of Billy's," Adam said, still getting over the shock of what he saw.

"Hey, you're the girl from the fight. How did you know our names? Or my name at least?" Tommy asked, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at her.

"Shouldn't all rangers know other rangers?" Lina asked.

"You're a ranger?" Tanya asked. Lina simply nodded.

"She is telling the truth rangers. Lina is in the Red Inferno Ranger and has helped us before," Zordon explained.

"So THAT'S how you two met," Katherine said teasingly to Lina and Billy. The couple just blushed.

"Sorry about that Adam," Billy said to his friend. Adam was more or less over the shock by now and just shrugged it off.

"So where exactly are you from Lina?" Tanya asked. Lina glanced at Billy who just smiled at her.

"Where should I start?" Lina asked. She proceeded to explain to the Zeo Rangers her background and the entire story of why she was there. All the while having Zordon, Alpha, and Billy to back her up and not knowing what laid in store for her during her adventure in the Zeo Stages.


	7. Ultimatum

Disclaimer: the usual…………….

CHAPTER 7

Ultimatum

A couple of days passed and Lina settled into a routine with the Zeo Rangers. She didn't go to school at the risk of any familiar faces becoming suspicious so she helped out Billy during the day and the rangers all hung out together in the afternoons after school let out. Lina, again, became close to the other rangers very fast while the others couldn't get over how happy Billy was around the realm traveling ranger.

"I'm serious Lina, I don't think I've seen Billy this happy since he was a ranger himself," Katherine said. Lina just blushed.

"But I still don't get it, you two have known each other a total of a week and a half from the other realm you were in, and you are this serious," Tanya said. Lina just smiled at the yellow ranger.

"In some ways, time is faster with everything and everyone I'm involved in. You aren't aging faster or something, but the reason Billy and I are so close is because time seems to speed up and we feel like we've known each other longer," Lina explained, being patient despite feeling like it was her one hundredth time explaining herself. The girls would have continued talking but their communicators went off. They made sure the coast was clear and went outside.

"We read you Billy," Kat said.

"The guys are being attacked by cogs in the park, they need your help," Billy said.

"We're on it…It's Morphin Time!" Kat said.

"Storm Callers, Go!"

"Zeo Ranger 1, Pink!"

"Zeo Ranger 2, Yellow!"

"Power of the Inferno!" In a flash of light, the girls found themselves running to the aid of their male comrades. The fight was oddly way too easy. It only lasted for a few moments once the girls joined the fight. They were all very confused when the cogs just disappeared.

"Okay, what was that?" Rocky asked.

"Beats me, maybe Billy picked up on something," Tommy said. They took the hint and teleported back to the Command Center, not noticing the dark figure in the bushes.

"Gotcha rangers," he growled. The six rangers arrived at the Command Center.

"Did you get anything on that fight Billy?" Adam asked.

"There was definitely something odd going on the area where you were fighting, but I haven't been able to find out anything specific," Billy said.

"I suggest you all go home and rest for the time being. We will contact you as soon as something comes up," Zordon said.

"Sounds like a plan to me, I've got a test tomorrow anyway," Tanya said.

"Right behind you," Katherine said.

"We'll be at the Youth Center Billy," Rocky said as he followed Adam and Tommy. Billy waved goodbye to his friends, then turn and smiled at Lina, who just smirked back at him. Zordon and Alpha just chuckled at the two.

"Go on Billy, I'll watch the monitors," Alpha said.

"Thanks Alpha," Billy said walking over to Lina and playfully chasing her into the hallway.

"Billy..stop," she said while laughing, being tortured by him tickling her.

"Hey, you're a ranger and I'm not, make me stop," he said teasingly. Lina gave him a surprised smile and they started to wrestle as Lina deactivated her ranger suit. She would've been able to beat him but Lina couldn't stop laughing, causing Billy to grab her in a tight bundle.

"Got ya," he taunted. They just laughed as they walked out the back way of the Command Center, hand in hand.

"I know it's selfish, but I wish you could stay here," Billy said.

"It's okay, sometimes I wish I could too. I REALLY wish I could but it would mess up time among other things," Lina said as the couple sat beneath one of few trees in the area. Lina looked up to find Billy just staring at her. She got kind of caught off guard.

"What?" she asked. Billy just smirked and leaned in, planting a deep kiss on her lips. Lina just laughed and returned the kiss whole heartedly. Billy's tongue pried open her mouth and the kiss deepened. Lina felt Billy's hand gently run over her waist while her's clutched his back. Lina wasn't sure where this was leading but as a ranger, she had enough to worry about. She wasn't about to worry about her and Billy.

Meanwhile, Tommy, Adam, and Rocky were sparring at the Youth Center when their communicators went off. They headed off to their usual hidden corner.

"We read you Zordon," Tommy said.

"Report to the Command Center," they heard from Zordon.

"We're on our way," Rocky said. The three male zeo rangers pressed their usual buttons to teleport but did not end up in the Command Center. Their lights died down and they found themselves in a cage in some kind of dark dimension.

"What is this?" Adam said.

"Ha, it worked!" Prince Sprocket declared.

"Welcome rangers, to the last place you will ever see," King Mondo said. The three male rangers did not know what to think.

Back at the Command Center, Billy was gently massaging Lina's neck with his lips. Lina giggled a little when he hit one of her ticklish spots. Billy stopped and smirked evilly at her.

"I didn't know you were that ticklish," he said.

"Don't you dare take advantage of this knowledge," she warned. Billy just responded by continuing to kiss her.

"Hey guys, we need you back in the Command Center," Tanya's voice said over the communicators. The two sighed.

"To be continued?" Billy asked.

"Why not?" Lina replied sarcastically. They made their way back to the main part of the Command Center to find Katherine and Tanya looking worried.

"What's up?" Lina asked.

"We haven't been able to reach the guys for the last twenty minutes and they aren't at the Youth Center," Katherine explained.

"Aiyiyiyiyiyiyiyi, rangers, we're getting a message on the viewing globe," Alpha said. Billy pressed in a few codes. King Mondo appeared on the screen.

"Ah rangers, as you may well know by now, I have your friends. And I am giving you an ultimatum, either give up the Red Inferno Ranger, or you will never see your precious Zeo Rangers 3, 4, and 5 again!" King Mondo declared before cutting the message. Katherine, Tanya, Billy, and Lina were stunned.

"Most evil guys want to destroy rangers, what does he want with me?" Lina asked. The others were silent, for they did not know. However, Zordon hesitated to answer for he knew something about Lina's powers that possibly only Zeek knew the true answer to.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO TOMMY, ADAM, AND ROCKY! WHAT ABOUT LINA AND BILLY? Please RR.


	8. Another One Bites The Dust

Disclaimer: the usual………..

CHAPTER 8

Another One Bites the Dust

Kat, Tanya, Lina, and Billy were stunned. Lina thought for a second about the ultimatum King Mondo had given them, her for Tommy, Rocky, and Adam. She knew it was the most cliché thing of all. Mondo wanted her powers and if he was successful, he wouldn't free the guys anyway, he was evil. But she wasn't the typically powerful ranger bad guys were after. She knew there was something different about her powers, she just couldn't put her finger.

"What are we going to do?" Tanya asked.

"Well, first, we need to get a lock on where they are holding the guys, then we can devise a real plan," Kat said. Lina had slipped out of the room only moments before. Billy finally noticed.

"Lina?" he called, thinking she may be nearby.

"Rangers, Lina's powers grow with every realm she enters and I fear she may be having a hard time adjusting to it. Please lend your support to her, as she may be doubting herself right now," Zordon said. Kat, Tanya, and Billy were silent as they were not sure how to react to the news. Meanwhile, Lina had found herself in one of the workrooms.

'Wonder what this telekinesis is like?' she thought to herself and started to practice. She found herself having an extremely easy time with it. She went through a series of exercises, practicing different techniques and methods of her powers until she exhausted herself and everything she was mentally holding up dropped to the floor with a thud.

"Are you okay?" came a voice suddenly. Lina whipped around in surprise to find Billy in the doorway, looking at her in concern.

"Yea, I feel a little better with some practice..," Lina said, letting her sentence linger in thought. Billy was all too familiar with this.

"But?" he said. Lina smirked.

"But I feel as if I'm getting these powers for a reason but I shouldn't be using them as my only way of fighting," Lina explained.

"That's natural. In a way, that's testing yourself, how far you can go without really needing your powers. Do you think we morphed every time a couple of putties showed up?" Billy asked, smirking as Lina chuckled.

"No, but that didn't mean none of ya'll wanted to," she said, teasing him. The two leaned and began a soft series of kisses until they heard someone clear their throat. They looked to the door and saw Kat and Tanya giving them playful smiles and looks.

"Um, Alpha picked up on something," Tanya explained. The four made their way back to the main room.

"Aiyiyiyiyiyiyi, I found the guys but there are so many cogs, I've lost count," Alpha explained, pointing to the viewing globe.

"Not to mention King Mondo and family," Billy said.

"Not to mention some ugly monsters," Kat pointed out.

"How are we supposed to get the guys out of there?" Tanya asked. Lina studied the viewing globe silently until a thought came to her mind. Something the space rangers did with the psycho rangers. She knew how to do it and smiled at the thought of it.

"Can't make the trade if Mondo doesn't have the right rangers," Lina commented. Billy, Tanya, and Kat all frowned in confusion before Lina proceeded to explain her plan.

A short time later, the guys were starting to get a little worried as more time passed. They sneered when they heard King Mondo chuckle.

"What's the matter rangers? Did your friends forget about you?" King Mondo taunted.

"Hey dad, if they never come, can I keep these three as pets?" Prince Sprocket asked.

"Of course son, these three rangers will make fine pets for you," King Mondo said as he once again turned to taunt the rangers.

"Are you sure you have the right rangers?" asked a voice that sounded a lot like Tommy's, but Mondo himself had seen that Tommy had not opened his mouth.

"Who said that!" King Mondo demanded.

"Good question," Rocky whispered until Adam pointed out a figure stepping out of the shadows.

"I did," said the voice before stepping into the light. The guys mouth's dropped, the person, who ever he was, sounded a lot like Tommy and was wearing his red zeo ranger suit. Little did they know that the figure was actually Billy and Lina was using her special device that Zeek gave her to sound like Tommy.

"Yea, who's the real green ranger here?" asked a voice that sounded like Adam. Out from the shadows came Tanya in the green ranger suit, and Lina switching the voice control so she sounded like the handsome green ranger. With some special working, she made it so Tanya and Katherine weren't showing their female features during the process of trying to trick King Mondo.

"One, two, three, is the blue ranger him or me?" asked Katherine as Lina talked in Rocky's voice. King Mondo began to release steam from his ears, being so mad.

"GET THEM!" he commanded. Katherine, Tanya, and Billy ensued a fight while remaining in the suits they were in. Lina came out from her hiding spot and used her telekinesis. With one sweep of her hand, nearly all of the cogs were knocked out and destroyed, making the room seem nearly empty in seconds. Katherine, Billy, and Tanya fought monsters as Lina approached King Mondo.

"Come to turn yourself in, eh?" he asked. Lina sneered.

"No wonder you lose all the time. You're really stupid!" Lina declared before ensuing a fight with Mondo. She easily gained the upper hand but found that she needed to save her strength to help the others with their fight.

"STORM CALLERS, GO! POWER OF THE INFERNO!" she cried, morphing. As it usually did, the morphing gave her the upper hand and she soon took down King Mondo.

"This fight will never be over," he declared before disappearing.

"The one against good and evil, yeah, but good always wins," she said before melting the bars on the guy's cage.

"Thanks Lina," they said as they stepped out of the cage, stopping with baffled expressions as they watched their doubles fight.

"KAT! TANYA! Go to your own colors!" Lina cried. The girls nodded and managed to get enough space to morph. Tommy, Adam, and Rocky joined in with them.

"IT'S MORPHIN TIME!" they cried, morphing in to their respective colors while Billy remained in his suit, feeling like he was back in action. Lina smirked at the sight. The true challenge being over, the fight soon ended, the rangers of course, being victorious. Lina thought nothing of it as they returned to the Command Center.

"Did it feel good to be back Billy?" Adam asked his friend. Billy couldn't stop smiling.

"Yea it did. It feels great, I don't know what could wipe this smile off my face," he said. But as if on cue, a light appeared in Lina's hand and melted into her next stone. She sighed in some disappointment as her gaze met Billy's. The others were not sure what to say to their friends. They knew Billy's heart was breaking.

"We'll leave you two alone," Tommy said. The rangers left, leaving the couple to themselves.

"I don't know if I can go through this again," Lina said, breaking down into tears. Billy engulfed her in a comforting hug. The two just stood their, holding each other, trying to comfort the other.

"Unfortunately, you don't have a choice. You have to get back to your team soon," Billy said, trying to be encouraging to her while at the same time fighting the urge to have her stay with him.

"Just promise me something," she said.

"Anything," Billy said.

"Be happy…with your life…and everything you decide to do," Lina said. Billy was a little surprised by the request but smiled.

"I will, as long as you promise me the same thing," he said. Lina smiled.

"I promise," she said. The two spent the remaining time Lina had holding each other, talking, and kissing. Before they knew the portal was coming. Lina and the rangers exchanged their goodbyes.

"Good luck with your mission Lina," Adam said.

"Good luck with your fight guys," Lina said sincerely to her fellow rangers. She turned to Billy just as the portal opened up. He handed her a small package which she accepted but gave him a questioning look.

"Open it at your next realm," he said. Lina smiled and gave him a passionate kiss goodbye. She ran into the portal so she wouldn't hesitate and miss it.

"Good bye Lina," Zordon said.

"Good luck Inferno Ranger," Alpha said. Lina used to the traveling by now, came into a sitting position right outside the youth center. She sighed in slight sadness before opening the package Billy gave her. Inside were photos of them from her morphin mission and from the zeo stage as well as a small charm bracelet. So far it had three charms on it, one representing morphin, a triceratops, and one representing zeo. Lina smiled and sighed as she put the bracelet on. She wondered if the next mission held this much emotion in store for her. All she knew, was that she didn't have long to wait.


	9. Turbo Time

Disclaimer: the usual……………..

CHAPTER 9

Turbo Time

Lina sighed as she slipped her bracelet on. She missed Billy already but knew it had just been a phase because there was no way she would be able to see any of the rangers again, no matter how close she got to them. She just appreciated the memories she had.

"Are you okay?" asked a familiar voice. Lina glanced up to Zeek standing over her.

"I will be. So what's the scoop right now?" Lina asked.

"You are in the second team of Turbo Rangers. What's going on right now is a Christmas ball in a way," Zeek explained.

"And me with nothing to wear," Lina said sarcastically. Zeek smirked.

"I double as a kind of fairy godfather figure too ya know," he said before waving his staff a little. A light engulfed Lina's body and disappeared to reveal a beautiful red dress trimmed in green and a matching eye mask.

"Are we seriously going for the Cinderella effect here?" Lina asked, laughing a little.

"Just see how it goes and try to have a little bit of fun," Zeek instructed. Lina gave him a playful glare.

"You make me sound like an insecure introvert," she said. Zeek just smiled and disappeared. Lina looked over her dress, a little excited to be dressed up for once. She took a deep breath and looked at the entrance way.

"Here we go," she whispered to herself. Meanwhile, inside, Carlos stood off to the side looking a little bored as he sipped on his punch. Ashley was dancing with Justin while T.J. and Cassie were dancing together. He knew none of them were hooking up but he couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever meet his "princess".

"Hey Carlos, why aren't you out there dancing, man?" TJ asked as he and Cassie came over to get some punch.

"I'm not really into it right now," Carlos said.

"Well if you do, feel free to cut in…oh TJ, come on, I love this song," Cassie said as she pulled her friend and fellow ranger back out onto the dance floor. Carlos just smirked and went to get some more punch. He sighed again before glancing at the doorway. He had to do a double take when he saw Lina in the entrance way. He had never seen her before but whoever she was, she absolutely beautiful. His heart fluttered for the first time in ages when it came to a girl and his throat felt tight. Lina glanced at the refreshment stand and saw Carlos staring at her. She smirked and walked around the wall, observing the people in the room. Carlos wasn't sure what was moving him, but he found himself following her, not realizing that he came right up on her.

"Um, excuse me," he said. Lina turned around and smiled at him.

"Yes?" she asked. Carlos swallowed, becoming more nervous at the sight of her smile.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked, surprised he got the words out. Lina smiled again.

"I'd love to," she said. Carlos smiled and took her hand, leading her out onto the dance floor.

"Hey, who's that Carlos is dancing with?" Justin asked. Ashley smirked as she watched her friend dance with a stranger.

"Not sure, but I think he likes her," she said. Carlos and Lina danced for several songs until they came upon another slow song.

"Do you go to Angel Grove High?" Carlos asked. Lina had to keep herself from laughing.

"No," she said. Carlos just smiled.

"Then where did you come from? I've never seen you around here before," he said.

"I come and go," Lina said right as the music stopped. Carlos noticed that she was fanning herself.

"Do you want to go out and get some air?" he asked. Lina happily accepted the offer and slid her arm over his. The two walked right outside and stood under the archway right outside the Youth Center. The chilly night air mixed with Lina's spaghetti strap dress caused her to become cold very fast. She shivered and Carlos immediately responded.

"Here," he said as he slid off his jacket. He wrapped it around her, causing the two of them to get closer together. Lina couldn't believe this. This was going a whole lot faster than her relationship with Billy, of course, she shouldn't compare Carlos and Billy. Two completely different ranger, two completely different teams. She glanced passed Carlos and chuckled at what she saw.

"What?" Carlos asked. Lina motioned above his head. Carlos looked up and saw a mistletoe. He swallowed a little and looked down at Lina.

"Ever kissed a complete stranger?" he asked. Lina smirked, knowing he wasn't EXACTLY a stranger.

"There's a first time for everything," she replied. Carlos leaned in and softly pressed his lips to hers. Lina immediately felt sparks, causing her to deepen the kiss. Suddenly, a familiar beep went off. However, it went off with both of their communicators.

"Uh…I…have…," Carlos said, trying to find the words to leave safely without ruining the moment. Lina decided not to beat around the bush with this realm.

"Go morph," Lina said. Carlos was immediately stunned.

"What did you just say?" he asked.

"I know you're the Green Turbo Ranger. I'm not going to tell anyone, just go!" she cried. Carlos stumbled a little but ran off to meet his friends.

"Is there a method to your madness?" Zeek asked. Lina didn't even care where he came from.

"As much as I would like to have a butt load of new friends, the sooner I can get home, the less painful this whole process will be," Lina explained, trying to hold back tears.

"Then I suggest you go help them and don't think that it will always be painful," Zeek said before disappearing into thin air. Lina thought about what he said for a minute before going to work.

"STORM CALLERS, GO! POWER OF THE INFERNO!"

Fire engulfed her entire body and transported her to the Turbo Rangers fight with the piranatrons. She saw that they were struggling by the amount they were fighting, not to mention the fact that Elgar was involved in the fight.

"Haha rangers, you can't win," he taunted. Lina snuck up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Excuse me," she said calmly. Just as Elgar turned around, she created a fireball in her hand and punched him right in the face, launching him back forty feet.

"What was that?" Ashley asked.

"More like WHO was that?" TJ asked, noticing the new fighter on the field.

"The heat is on, fish freaks!" Lina declared sarcastically, taking her position to begin and finish the fight as quickly as possible.


	10. Red Alert

Disclaimer: the usual….

CHAPTER 10

Red Alert

"Since when do we have two red rangers?" Cassie asked Ashley.

"Not really sure," Ashley replied. All eyes, good and evil, were on the new Red Ranger to the scene. Lina went through a series of hand motions.

"Turbo Rangers, I suggest you duck! INFERNO BLAZE!" Lina cried, pushing her hands out and a shower of fire balls descended upon the piranatrons.

"Guys, check out Elgar," Justin said while laughing. The others say that the menace was jumping around, trying to avoid the fireballs but it seemed that everywhere he stepped was hot.

"Oops, ouch, hot, hot, hot!" he cried. The Turbo Rangers broke down laughing, not noticing that Lina had slipped away as her fireballs would be enough to add to the fight for now. Carlos was the first to notice that the mysterious ranger had disappeared, along with all the piranatrons and Elgar. The fire seemed to have died down when it wasn't needed anymore.

"Hey, where did that new ranger go?" he asked of the others, hoping they had seen her leave. They too started looking around for the ranger who they could only assume was on their side.

"Not sure, maybe Alpha picked something up at the Command Center," T.J. said.

"Let's go then," Ashley said before all five rangers teleported away. While the rangers went to find any clues to the new ranger, Divatox was demanding answers.

"How can they just suddenly have another red ranger! It goes against everything of the good vs. evil code!" Divatox ranted, throwing around and hitting anything she could get a hold of to let out her frustration.

"Maybe they were just saving him for a rainy day," Elgar suggested in his usual dumb manner. Divatox whipped around and glared at him as she approached.

"Rainy day? Yea, they saved him for a rainy day…SO HE COULD RAIN FIRE ALL OVER YOU AND THE PIRANATRONS!" she cried before hitting him several times. Elgar stumbled backwards before Divatox stopped.

"Find out who that ranger is…AND DESTROY HIM!" she cried to everyone on her ship. Everyone ran in fear from her screaming. Meanwhile, the rangers were reviewing the fight for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"This is getting boring," Justin said as he, Cassie, and Ashley stared blankly at the screen. Carlos and T.J. were the only two who still seemed remotely interested as they ran the scan with Alpha 6.

"All we've been able to tell is that the ranger is human," Cassie said.

"And a girl," Alpha 6 interjected, which caught all of the ranger's attention.

"There's a girl red ranger?" T.J. asked, a little surprised. Alpha 6 just nodded.

"And not only that but she has the same energy reading as the girls Carlos kissed outside of the Youth Center," Alpha 6, giggling a little. Carlos' face fell into shocked embarrassment as the other's mouths dropped into shock.

"Who did you kiss outside of the Youth Center?" Cassie asked. Carlos stumbled with his words before he finally just settled his attention on Alpha 6.

"How do you know I kissed a girl outside of the Youth Center?" Carlos asked, still a little too surprised to get angry.

"That was my doing, Carlos. I asked Alpha to keep a close eye on the Youth Center in case any surprise attacks were centered around there," Dimitria explained. Alpha pressed a few buttons and brought up the saved file where Carlos kissed Lina. The look on Carlos' face was clear that he wanted to crawl up into a deep hole and not come out. The others could not believe what they were seeing.

"Carlos, do you even know who that is?" Ashley asked. Carlos managed to summon up enough courage to shake his head no. The other rangers did their best not to laugh at the expense of their friend, but they found it very difficult. Alpha 6 changed it to a split screen with footage of the Inferno ranger from the fight and scanned both of them. "Match Found" came up when the scan was finished.

"So Carlos' Cinderella and the mysterious Red ranger are one in the same. That doesn't put us any closer to knowing who she is," Justin said.

"Well aren't you just a little impatient today. I've thought of that already. Here," Alpha 6 said as he handed something to T.J. He looked it over, unsure of what it was.

"And this is what and does what?" T.J. asked.

"It's a scanner/alarm. You can scan any area you want to see if you can get a match of the energy reading from the Red Ranger. Or if she ends up near you, it will go off. Silently, mind you," Alpha 6 explained. The rangers all sighed and glanced at each other, exhausted and satisfied that they were walking away with something.

"It's getting late, why don't we go home and get some sleep. Start fresh tomorrow," Cassie suggested. All of the rangers agreed and left to rest up.

"I just hope this ranger really IS on our side," Alpha 6 said after they had left.

"Me too Alpha. Me too," Dimitria said. The next day, all of the rangers had put in a full day at school and were busy working on their homework.

"Man, I hate Calculus," Carlos commented as he fiddled with his calculator.

"Your parents will hate even more if you don't pass, so keep going," Ashley said a little playfully, trying to cheer up the dull atmosphere. They didn't notice Lina walking in. She was sporting workout clothes, a small gym bag, and a boom box. T.J. glanced over and frowned.

"Does she look familiar to any of you?" T.J. asked. The other rangers turned to see that he was pointing to Lina.

"Yea she does, but I don't know where from," Cassie said. Lina put in a CD on her boombox and the music started to blast through the Youth Center. She had felt bored all day and had decided to come workout in a dancing kind of way. Her expert dance and gymnastic style moves caught everyone's attention but she was concentrating too hard to notice.

'I wonder if Zack would like this routine,' she silently thought, a smile gracing her face at the thought of her old friend. She kept going, awing everyone with her moves. The rangers seemed to be the most blown away.

"Wow, she's really good," Carlos commented. Justin grabbed his smoothie and took a sip, only to have his eyes almost bug out of his head.

"T.J.," he said. The red ranger glanced at Justin then followed his eyes to what he was looking at. The alarm that Alpha had given them was slowly blinking red. All the rangers noticed this when T.J. picked it up. He glanced at all of them before hold it up directly at Lina. The lights flickered like crazy when he did that.

"Looks like we've found the new red ranger," T.J. said. Before they could do anything, Piranatrons appeared from thin air. Everyone scattered and screamed as the rangers got into defensive stances.

"And we're not the only ones," Ashley said. Lina too was in a defensive stance, ready to move on to the next part of her Turbo adventure.


	11. Emotional Baggage

Disclaimer: the usual………………………

CHAPTER 11

Emotional Baggage

Lina knew that if the Turbo Rangers weren't aware of her identity then, they were at least suspicious of her as she stood in a fighting stance in front of the Piranatrons along with the Rangers.

"ATTACK!" Elgar ordered. The battle immediately ensued. The rangers fought well but were awestruck by some of Lina's abilities. Lina wasn't about to get a swelled head though. It was just that, so far, none of the minions had as big of a challenge as the Gorons were in her own realm. That did not mean things could change at any minute, so Lina stayed on her guard. She did a front tumble forward towards Elgar. He was about to strike at her when it seemed that she disappeared. He glanced around until he felt some pressure on his shoulders. He glanced up a little to see Lina doing a hand stand on his shoulders. She swung her legs down, double kicking Elgar in the chest, and did a back flip into a fighting position. Elgar fell backwards and could not get himself back up. The Piranatrons seemed to pile up next to him. Lina took this as her chance to duck out of the way. She was not used to confronting a brand new team without someone she already knew. She hadn't exactly planned out what she should say. Little did she know that roaming eyes had already thought ahead and was about to cut her off.

"Well, well…," came a chilling and annoying voice. Lina came to a screeching halt to see that she had come face to face with Divatox. Divatox looked her over and sneered.

"How can the mighty new red ranger seem so shrimpy?" she asked rhetorically. Lina smirked and narrowed her eyes cockily.

"I may be shrimpy, but at least I don't look like my closet threw up on me," she retorted. Divatox growled at the insult and fired an energy ball at her. Lina threw her hands up to block it and ended up firing a couple of fireballs from her hands for the first time she could remember. She was in so much shock that she had a hard time reacting when Divatox lashed out at her.

"AH! DARN YOU!" she cried before charging at Lina. Lina couldn't believe what was happening. She had fired fire balls from her hands and she was actually frozen in battle. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for what was to come but nothing happened. She heard a thud and some rumbling. Opening her eyes, Lina saw Carlos scuffling with Divatox.

"Get off me ranger!" she cried, throwing Carlos off her, literally AT Lina. He slammed into her, knocking them both to the ground. They sat up just in time to see Divatox stumble to her feet. Catching her breath, Divatox thrusted her finger towards Lina.

"I don't know who you are, or where you came from, but you will not get away with messing with the MIGHTY DIVATOX! HA!" she cried, before disappearing into thin air.

"That was original," Lina retorted to herself, almost forgetting that Carlos was there. He glanced at her and looked her up down, getting his first chance to take her in knowing all he did about her. He, of course, thought she was as pretty as he had the night he met her at the dance but the air of mystery that surrounded her origin, as a ranger or otherwise, made her seem as if she was somewhat of a threat despite her actions in helping them. Lina cautiously glanced over to see Carlos staring back at her.

"What?" she asked simply, not really sure how else to phrase her question.

"You have a lot of explaining to do," Carlos told her firmly. Lina sighed.

"I'm getting used to that," she said, not really to him. The two of them stood up and dusted themselves off. Carlos grabbed her wrist and tightened his grip a little. Lina frowned at his actions.

"And what are you doing?" she questioned seriously.

"You running off is getting old. I'm just taking some precautions," Carlos stated. Lina rolled her eyes at his attempts and placed her free hand on her hips. Carlos was about to call over his communicator when T.J., Ashley, Cassie, and Justin came around the corner.

"Carlos, are you okay?" Justin asked.

"How'd you get a hold of her?" Ashley asked at the same time. Carlos held up his free hand to stop them from talking.

"I'll tell you at the Power Chamber, let's go. Alpha, six to teleport," he said over his communicator.

"You got it Carlos," Alpha 6 responded. The six rangers were engulfed in light and reappeared in the Power Chamber that was familiar to Lina but not the residents. Just by his movements, Lina immediately knew Alpha 6 was totally different from Alpha 5. And Dimitria was no Zordon.

"Welcome Ranger," Dimitria said politely. Lina managed to take her awestruck gaze off Dimitria to look over at Carlos.

"Can you let go of me now, please?" she asked simply. Carlos glanced down and noticed that still had a grip on her wrist. He released her and crossed his arms, waiting for an explanation. Lina went into her usual story of how where she was from, their reality was a television show, why she was there, where her powers came from, and what she had already been through. By the time she was finished, the rangers were in disbelief.

"Yea right," T.J. said, laughing a little at how ridiculous he thought it was.

"Very creative try though," Cassie said. Lina couldn't believe it….they really didn't buy her story and it was the absolute truth right down to the detail! Alpha looked up from a console and turned to the rangers.

"Uh, rangers, she's telling the truth," he said.

"What? There's no way that could really happen!" Justin declared.

"But I can Justin, for I have met Zeek and understand the guardianship he has over the Storm Caller powers. Lina is in fact that Red Inferno Ranger on a journey to put together the long lost Gemini sword," Dimitria said. An awkward silence fell over the Turbo Rangers and Lina. Alpha finally got sick of it.

"Uh, Lina, we have a spare room you can stay in?" Alpha said. Lina nodded towards him as a thank you and silently began to walk out. She didn't get very far because Carlos grabbed her hand.

"Don't even think about running off," he said, warning her. Lina snatched her hand away from him and glared back.

"Back off! I couldn't go anywhere even if I wanted to!" she cried before storming out of the main room of the Power Chamber. The other rangers were a little concerned by Carlos' behavior but seemed to let it slide for Lina isolated herself within her room for the next few days. She only really came out if there was a really bad fight that she was needed for. It was becoming more and more obvious to Lina, based on her sudden change of tone with the Turbo rangers, compared to the past ones that her stone this time would be emotional related, as the first one had. She just wish she could pin point exactly what it was.

"Locking yourself in your room is not going to get you back to your brother and the others faster," Zeek said suddenly. Lina was getting used to him popping out of no where, so she just groaned and rolled her eyes.

"It's not going to make things easier if I make friends with the Turbo Rangers either. Just when I get close to any rangers, I have to leave!" Lina shouted in anger.

"So you would rather turn into a cold, hearted, distant…?" Zeek asked, not being able to finish his sentence before Lina interfered.

"Don't you dare say what I think you're going to. I don't want to turn into everything our enemies are but I just don't know how to make things easier. I love making new friends but I hate saying goodbye to them. What am I supposed to do?" Lina asked.

"Just talk to us about it," came a new voice. Lina turned around suddenly to see Carlos in her doorway. She rolled her eyes and groaned in annoyance, both at his presence and at the fact that Zeek had suddenly disappeared.

"Come to warn me about what NOT to do some more?" she asked, a little ticked.

"I was coming to tell you that there was left over pizza if you wanted some but I ended hearing this. Is that why you've been so distant with us? You're scared of getting close to people now?" Carlos asked sincerely, approaching her. Lina noticed the concern in his eyes and took it to be sincere.

"I became friends with the rangers I met in the morphin and zeo stages. It was very painful to say goodbye to them because I had become very good friends with them in a very short amount of time. On top of missing my teammates, it has become very painful to deal with making new friends," Lina explained.

"I understand. I moved around a lot when I was little. I was lucky to even had MADE friends until I got to Angel Grove. It was awesome when my dad stayed here," Carlos said, smiling at the memories. Lina smiled, a little surprised.

"You mean we actually have something in common besides being rangers?" she said, a little jokingly. Carlos laughed a little.

"Yea, I guess we do. Lina, caring about people is a great gift that some people just can't bring themselves to do. Some bad has to come with the wonderful feeling of it," Carlos said. Lina laughed.

"You sound like a Hallmark card, but you make sense at the same time. I guess I just have to work through this pain of goodbyes and just try to enjoy the impact meeting all of the ranger teams does for me," Lina said. She buried her head in her hands and laughed as a familiar light illuminated from her pocket.

"How obvious could that have been?" she asked herself, referring to the lesson she needed to learn in this realm.

"Does that mean you have to rush off?" Carlos asked. Lina smiled at him.

"No, I've got a couple of hours," she said, gazing at him, a new found respect existing between the two of them. Suddenly, the portal opened up, catching Lina off guard.

"Or not..?" she said, wondering what was going on. Zeek poked his head out and offered his hand to her.

"Come on Lina, we have to go," he said. Lina took a few seconds to recover before walking towards the portal. She turned to Carlos and smirked.

"I don't think is goodbye, YET," she said to him before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and running into the portal with Zeek. Carlos smiled after her. Lina and Zeek landed in what seemed like a white, floating bubble.

"Zeek, what's going on? I thought I had two hours after I got the stone?" Lina asked.

"You usually do but there's an emergency in the Space Ranger Realm," Zeek explained.

"What emergency?" Lina questioned.

"You'll have to find out for yourself, I'll be along when I'm needed," Zeek said. A portal opened up behind Lina and actually engulfed her, taking her into the Space Ranger Realm where a surprise awaits on her journey to save her world and her teammates.

WHAT SURPRISES AWAIT LINA IN THE SPACE RANGER REALM? WHAT WILL HAPPEN BETWEEN HER AND CARLOS? WHAT MUST SHE DO TO GET THE GEM THIS TIME?


	12. Cry For Help

Disclaimer: the usual………….

CHAPTER 12

Cry for Help

Zeek and Lina landed on solid ground as the bright light from the portal disappeared. Lina looked around, a little unfamiliar with her surroundings.

"We are still in Angel Grove aren't we?" she asked. Zeek nodded.

"I had to bring the emergency here to avoid suspicions," Zeek explained.

"What? So what's the emergency?" Lina asked.

"Well, we kind of are," came a familiar voice. Lina turned around and for a second, forgot that there was an emergency needing her as a ranger. Before her stood her brother, cousins, and friends. A smile spread instantly across her face as she was so excited to see them. She basically jumped into their arms, enveloping them in hugs.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so glad to see you guys….wait, what do you mean you're the emergency?" she asked, remembering why she had jumped realms early.

"We only said kind of," Corey said defensively. Lina gave them a look that told them that they had better explain fast or they were in trouble. Seth gathered up the strength to tell his sister.

"Alagor escaped into this realm along with nearly his entire army of Dones," he explained. Lina's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

"WHAT? HOW!" she bellowed, demanding an explanation. The guys had expected this reaction but were still blown away by it.

"We don't know Lina, we can only detect so much activity," Lex pleaded. Lina put her hands to her head, trying to concentrate and focus, processing what her teammates were telling her. The guys hesitated to tell her the rest of the news.

"There's something else you should probably know," Barry said. Lina put her hands on her hips and stared at her teammates.

"I can't wait to hear this," she said sarcastically. Luke approached Lina with a saddened and sorrowed look.

"They've kidnapped Samantha and are holding her hostage in this realm," Luke explained. Lina instantly looked confused on top of being borderline hysterical.

"Samantha? The…the Samantha I babysit? The six-year-old Samantha?" Lina asked, pleading her eyes at Luke. He only silently nodded. Lina was not sure how to react. She cared a lot about Samantha, almost like a daughter, but that was a concern on top of the fact that Alagor was an issue and the fact that it would be hard to explain to six-year-old their identities and why she was in another realm.

"We're sorry Lina," Lex said.

"Don't be sorry. We can only do so much without asking for help, which is something we need to do now. Zeek, we're in the Space Ranger realm, right?" Lina asked of their mentor. Zeek silently nodded.

"I will be available when you need me. Just call," he said before disappearing. Lina growled at his typical behavior but turned back to the situation at hand.

"Okay, you guys have been rangers long enough to know the general outline of this particular season of Power Rangers, and besides that I'm not going to take the time to explain it to you. We are going to split up and take no more than thirty minutes trying to track down any Space Ranger we can find. We will meet back at the Youth Center, Juice Bar, whatever it's called after that time. Call over the communicator if necessary…NOW GO…Sam doesn't have much time!" Lina ordered in her best leader voice. The boys had learned when it was a good idea to question Lina's leadership choices and now was not a good time. She was doing the best she could and the boys knew they couldn't do a better job.

Corey and Barry ended up searching inside the mall. They tried not to dawdle in their quest, searching as fast as they could for any sign of a space ranger, only to run into a group of Dones. People ran left and right, screaming in fear and the two boys ensued a fight. They were doing okay, but the fight was getting the best of them.

"Why are there this many in one location?" Barry asked.

"Wish I knew," Corey commented as he side kicked one done. Suddenly, a flash of yellow and pink entered the scene as Cassie and Ashley took over the fight.

"You might want to get to safety now," Ashley told them, mistaking them for civilians before going back to help Cassie. The boys just smirked.

"That's okay, we'll just help," Barry said. They both went into the hand motions.

"STORM CALLERS! GO!"

"Power of the Tornado!" Barry cried, morphing into his yellow suit.

"Power of the Tsunami!" Corey called, morphing into his white suit. All four rangers fought, but Cassie and Ashley couldn't help but wonder where these two new rangers came from.

Seth and Lex had wondered over to the area around Angel Grove High School and was searching the ground over for the third time.

"Anything?" Lex asked his cousin.

"Nothing, nobody in sight," Seth replied.

"Don't you DARE call ME a nobody," declared Astronema with Quantrons. The boys shifted into defensive stances.

"What do you want with us?" Lex asked.

"You've peaked my interested by your method of transportation here, so I want to know your powers. Quantrons, GET THEM!" Astronema ordered. Before the Quantrons could carry out their orders, two figures flipped over Lex and Seth. It was Zhane and TJ.

"Your fight is with us Astronema," Zhane said.

"Leave civilians out of it," TJ ordered. Astronema smirked.

"I'd hardly call THEM civilians. DESTROY THEM!" she cried, this time the Quantrons running towards the rangers.

"Let's shift it into high gear, fast," Seth said. He and Lex went through their hands motions as TJ and Zhane fought in civilian form.

"STORM CALLERS, GO!"

"Power of the Monsoon!" Seth cried, morphing into the Blue Monsoon Ranger.

"Power of the Hurricane!" Lex cried, morphing into the Green Hurricane Ranger. They instantly ensued the fight, causing TJ and Zhane to be stunned. When they got a free moment away from Quantrons, they turned to each other.

"Care to join them?" Zhane asked.

"Why not? Let's Rocket!" TJ cried. He morphed into the Blue Space Ranger while Zhane morphed into the Silver Space Ranger. They fought alongside Lex and Seth, not knowing how much they should trust these mysterious new rangers. Meanwhile, Luke was covering an area around the place that he still considered the Youth Center. He sighed in frustration as he again found nothing on his second go around.

"Looking for something?" asked a dark voice. Luke darted around into a defensive stance, only to come face to face with Alagor. Alagor laughed as Luke glared at him.

"Where's the rest of your team ranger? Did they wise up and decide to hide from me?" he asked. Luke sneered.

"Hardly!" he cried before beginning to shift into his morphing motions, only to be interrupted by a flash of red.

"HIYA!" cried Andros as he kicked Alagor down. He landed on his feet and faced the new enemy.

"Who are you? What do you want?" he demanded of the new threat. Alagor got to his feet, anger blasting through him.

"Trust me, you are going to need help. STORM CALLERS, GO!" Luke cried.

"Power of the Lighting!" he cried, morphing into the Black Lightning Ranger. Andros was torn between being ready to fight the new enemy and staring in awe at the mysterious new ranger.

"You aren't the ranger I'm after anyway!" Alagor screamed at Luke before disappearing into a portal.

"Aw man, not again!" Luke cried. Meanwhile, Lina was running frantically through the park searching for any sign of the four former Turbo Rangers, Andros, or Zhane. She had been running around for about twenty minutes straight before collapsing onto a bench to catch her breath. She stood back and looked around as she waited for her breathing to slow down. She didn't notice the figure approaching her from behind until a hand landed on her shoulder. She gasped as she was turned around by the person, only to come face to face with a laughing Carlos.

"Long time no see Lina," he said while laughing, as Lina's face broke into a smiling scowl.

"Carlos, you scared the crap out of me!" Lina declared before enveloping him into an excited hug. She had missed him during the time warp that was like three months squeezed into five seconds. Carlos hugged her back, happy to see an old friend. But Lina snapped back to reality, remembering her mission and broke away from the hug. She looked up at the now Black Space Ranger with pleading eyes.

"I need your help and your teammates. Something's happened," she said to him. Carlos' face fell.

"What is it?" he asked, genuinely concerned. A sinister laugh interrupted them. They both turned to see Alagor, surrounded by Dones. Clutched in his hands was a bounded Samanatha.

"LINA!" cried the little girl, frightened for her life.

"SAM!" Lina cried before running for her.

"LINA STOP!" Carlos cried.


	13. At Odds

Disclaimer: the usual…………..

CHAPTER 13

At Odds

"LINA WAIT!" Carlos cried to the Red Inferno Ranger as she started racing towards Samantha, in the clutches of Alagor. Alagor laughed in satisfaction.

"Right where I wanted you," he said before firing a light ball at Lina. She took a direct hit to the chest and fell to the ground. Carlos did not have time to let shock consume him. From the short time he had known Lina, he knew she was a good enough fighter to have been able to avoid an easy hit like that, but when it came to an innocent person you care about it, he knew all too well that emotions could get the best of any fighter.

"LINA, NO!" Sam cried as she saw her friend fall. For all she knew, that blast had killed Lina. Carlos collapsed next to Lina and cradled her to him.

"Lina, can you hear me?" he asked to the unconscious figure he held. He glared up at Alagor and the Dones. He quickly stood up and Alagor immediately recognized the hand motions he went through as the morphing motions for the Space Rangers.

"Don't bother ranger. With her out of the way, the realms of all of you are at my mercy. The Storm Callers WILL NOT complete the Gemini Sword. HaHaHa!" Alagor declared before disappearing along with the Dones and Sam.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Sam cried before disappearing with Alagor. Carlos glared after the figure before turning back to Lina. He quickly put his communicator to his mouth.

"Alpha, two to teleport to the ship. No one's around, do it now," Carlos said urgently.

"You got it Carlos," Alpha responded. Seconds later, Carlos was engulfed in black light as Lina was engulfed in red light and whisked away to the Astro Megaship. They landed in the main cockpit where Alpha immediately reacted.

"What the..Lina? What happened Carlos?" Alpha said as Carlos scooped Lina into his arms and began to walk briskly to the medical room.

"Some new guy attacked her. She said something about needing our help before he showed up with this little girl that she knew. Lina ran straight at them and he fired this energy ball at her. She took a direct hit to the chest," Carlos explained as he laid Lina on a medical bed. Alpha immediately went to scanning her body while Carlos watched nervously.

"Is she going to be okay, Alpha?" he asked. Alpha read the scanners and sighed.

"With plenty of rest, she should be, but she's going to be out of it for a while, Carlos. I don't know where this will put her on her mission though," Alpha explained. Carlos sighed and clutched the unconscious Lina's hand as Alpha put an oxygen mask over her.

"CARLOS!" screamed the familiar voice of Andros. Carlos' head popped up at the sound of his name.

"I'm in here!" he cried, before turning his attention back to Lina. He heard the doors open and footsteps.

"What happened?" asked a voice that was unfamiliar to Carlos. He glanced up and immediately jumped into a defensive stance as he saw five unfamiliar faces.

"Whoa, down boy!" Corey cried.

"It's okay Carlos," Ashley said.

"These are the rest of the Storm Callers," Andros said. Carlos lowered his stance as Seth came through the crowd and went to the other side of Lina.

"What happened to her?" he demanded, glaring up at Carlos. Zhane glanced over and noticed that Luke was glaring at Carlos too, but he wasn't sure why. He knew Seth was Lina's brother and that Lex and Barry were their cousins. But neither Corey or Luke were related to them. He noticed the glare intensified and saw that it was because Carlos had retaken a hold of Lina's hand. Zhane held back a chuckle as he had gathered an idea of why Luke was glaring at Carlos.

"Some guy named Alagor showed up once I found her. He had this little girl with him that Lina called Sam. She ran straight towards them and took a direct hit from him. He still has the little girl," Carlos explained.

"Now what do we do?" Lex asked.

"We have to get Lina back on her feet, save Sam, and find some way for Lina to get the stone she's supposed to get in this realm," Barry said.

"That's not going to be easy with her unconscious, ya know," Alpha pointed out.

"No kidding you walking tin can," Seth said.

"Hey, watch it. You may be an ally but that doesn't mean we have to take the sarcasm," Andros said sternly. Seth just glared back at them before turning to his sister.

"Let's leave them alone for a little while, maybe we can track Alagor or the little girl," TJ suggested to his teammates. The Space Rangers reluctantly left the Storm Callers alone in the medical deck. Cassie had to drag Carlos out of the room. Zhane hung back a little and noticed that Luke was still glaring at Carlos as they left the room.

"Hey Luke, can I talk to you for a second?" Zhane asked of the Black Lightning Ranger. Luke, a little surprised because he hadn't said one word to Zhane since he got there, followed the Silver ranger out into the hallway.

"I know it's not my business, but if you've got feelings for Lina, you should tell her," Zhane said. Luke was a little taken back by what Zhane was saying. Not even his teammates had been able to tell how he felt towards their sole female ranger, and now a complete stranger was telling him what to do about it. He recovered the only way he knew to recover.

"You're right, it's none of your business," Luke retorted before walking back into the medical room with his teammates. Zhane shook his head before walking towards the main cockpit where his fellow rangers were working.

"I'm not sure if I can work with them," Corey said.

"I know the feeling," Lex replied.

"But everything we've done so far is so petty, we should be able to work through it with them. We can't do this by ourselves. We couldn't even keep Alagor in our own realm for crying out loud, how are we supposed to get him back there by ourselves?" Barry asked of his teammates.

"They are so arrogant!" Andros screamed in frustration.

"They are nothing like Lina was in our Turbo days," Carlos said.

"Well you guys are returning the favor with your attitudes. Lina's used to this, they aren't. They haven't come face to face with another team before," Ashley said, defending the boys from the Storm Callers.

"Not to mention the fact that everything here is from television in their realm," Cassie said.

"Well how are we supposed to help them if they don't want help?" TJ asked.

"We might just have to help them in our own way, whether they want it or not. This fight effects us as much as it effects them," Zhane said. The Space Rangers sat in silence, contemplating on what part they could play in this new fight.

Meanwhile, Astronema observed from her ship the activities of Alagor and his Dones. She was very curious, as she had no idea who he was either.

"Ecliptor, have you been able to find out who that it?" Astronema asked.

"Not yet, my princess. We have been unable to track his origins, but I assure you that we are working on it," Ecliptor said.

"Make sure it stays that way until I get my answers," Astronema sneered. Ecliptor bowed before walking off. Astronema kept watching as she saw Alagor terrorize Samantha. Her face softened at the sight of Sam. Flashbacks from when she was little came back to her. She grabbed her head in pain.

"Make it stop, make it stop," she whispered, in almost a desperate tone.


	14. Time For A TeamUp

Disclaimer: the usual…….

CHAPTER 14

Time for a Team-Up

"Will you shut up and face facts, Seth? We can't do this without the space rangers!" Barry screamed at his cousin. Seth ran his hands through his hair and suppressed a scream of frustration.

"We put Lina in this situation, we should fix it," Seth argued.

"Damn it, Seth, we couldn't keep him in our realm, what makes you think we can get him back there by ourselves!" Lex asked.

"Would you guys shut up already!" Corey screamed at his teammates, massaging his temples, having gained a headache from all their arguing. They were in a spare room next to the medical deck where Lina still laid unconscious. Luke was watching over her, listening to his teammates yell at each in ever increasing volumes. While keeping some attention on the door, he focused at much of it as he could on Lina. He gently took her limp hand into his and ran a thumb over her soft skin.

"I doubt this is what Zhane meant by telling you how I feel, but I like you Lina. I like you a lot. I've liked you since I met you, and it's only grown over the years. I can't stand seeing Carlos look at you the way he does because I know the way this mission works, you won't see him again, and that it'll only hurt you. But I can't distract you with my own feelings for you right now, there's enough pressure on you right now. I know it sounds cheesy, but I just want you to be happy…Please wake up soon, Lina," he whispered. He leaned down and gently kissed Lina's cheek. He got distracted when Seth, Lex, and Barry started arguing again. Luke rolled his eyes and gently tightened his grip on Lina's hand.

"For not only the fate of the world, but for the fate of our sanity, PLEASE wake up," he whispered to her. Meanwhile, Andros and Zhane were running scans for Alagor, Samantha or any of the Dones. They didn't even have much concern on Astronema, Quantrons, or Ecliptor.

"So what do you think of the Storm Callers?" Andros asked his best friend. Zhane frowned at the question.

"Why do you ask?" Zhane asked. Andros shrugged his shoulders.

"I just want to know," he responded. Zhane sighed and thought for a moment.

"I think the arrogance you see if really them mad at letting Alagor escape into this realm. They're mad at themselves for letting it happen but it seems like they are taking it out on you," Zhane explained. Andros let out a confused huff.

"What do we do?" he asked, not really directly. Zhane shook his head, not knowing himself. Suddenly the alarms started blaring. Zhane and Andros immediately went to work at the consoles, as Ashley, Cassie, TJ, and Carlos came running in with Alpha. The male Storm Callers soon followed.

"What's going on?" Corey asked.

"Alagor and the Dones are back in the park," Zhane said.

"Where's the little girl?" TJ asked.

"Not sure. There's an energy reading for her here but I don't see her," Andros explained.

"He must have hidden her somewhere nearby," Cassie said.

"Let's get him out of this realm and get Sam safe," Carlos pitched in.

"Hold on, what about Lina?" Lex asked.

"I'll watch out for her rangers. You guys get down there and take care of that jerk before he runs off again," Alpha said urgently. The rangers became a little hesitant, knowing they were slightly at odds with each other. Seth swallowed hard and walked over to Andros, holding out his hand.

"Truce?" he asked. Andros glanced at his hand then up at Seth. He saw sincerity in his eyes, knowing that the Blue Monsoon ranger had to put the pettiness aside for the greater good. Andros smiled at this showing of true leadership and shook his hand.

"Truce, now let's go," he said. Seth nodded and joined his teammates.

"LET'S ROCKET!" cried the Space rangers.

"STORM CALLERS, GO!" cried the storm caller rangers. Lights engulfed the bodies of the eleven rangers, dying down to reveal their spandex suits. Alpha immediately teleported them to the park to face off against Alagor.

"POWER RANGERS UNITE!" cried all eleven young people.

"Red Ranger Power!" Andros cried.

"Blue Ranger Power!" TJ cried.

"Black Ranger Power!" Carlos cried.

"Yellow Ranger Power!" Ashley cried.

"Pink Ranger Power!" Cassie cried.

"Silver Ranger Power!" Zhane cried.

"SPACE RANGERS!" cried all six of them.

"Blue Monsoon Power!" Seth cried.

"Green Hurricane Power!" Lex screamed.

"Yellow Tornado Power!" Barry cried.

"White Tsunami Power!" Corey cried.

"Black Lightning Power!" Luke cried.

"STORM CALLERS, GO!" called the five males. Colored smoke blasted behind the eleven rangers, in red blue, green, yellow, white, silver, black, and pink.

"Well that was a waste of three minutes. DONES ATTACK!" Alagor ordered, after remarking sarcastically at the rangers' entrance. The minions ran at the rangers, engaging in a fierce battle. Andros and Seth took on Alagor face to face.

"Where's the girl freak show!" Andros demanded. Alagor laughed cockily.

"You'll never know!" he declared. Andros and Seth charged Alagor together, holding on to their fight as best as they could. Meanwhile, Astronema appeared at the edge of the fight, hiding behind some trees. She observed the fight, frowning at Alagor. Never in her life had to wanted to go against another enemy of the rangers, but something about his method of kidnapping that little girl got to her. She heard some rustling and muffled screams nearby. She snapped her fingers and switched into regular clothes and her short blonde hair. She snuck over to the bush and discovered the little girl tied up and struggling to get free.

"Hey, hold on," she told Sam, quickly going to her rescue. She untied the ropes that bounded the little girl's limbs and undid the gag in her mouth. Sam, burst into tears, and embraced the human-looking Astronema in a hug. Astronema was surprised beyond belief, stunned even. She recovered and gently hugged the girl back, comforting her.

"Come on, I'm going to get you somewhere safe," she told Sam. Sam sniffed and nodded. Astronema scooped the little girl up and snuck around the woods. She came to the side where Zhane was fighting. She picked up a few pebbles and threw them at him. One finally swiped the side of his helmet and he looked around.

"HEY!" he cried, thinking it was a Done or something. He noticed two figures in the bushes and quickly ran towards them. He was shocked beyond belief to see Astronema.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a surprised manner.

"Letting you take HER somewhere safe," she replied, pointing to Samantha, who remained silent. Zhane was again, shocked.

"Did you..?" he asked. Astronema nodded, knowing he was going to ask if she had rescued her.

"Why?" he asked. Astronema looked straight into his eye piece.

"I don't know. Just please get her out of here," Astronema said before getting up and running off. Zhane looked after her, then turned his attention to Samantha.

"Would you like to get some icecream while a friend of mine watches you?" he asked. Sam smiled and nodded, immediately trusting the ranger. Zhane spoke into his communicator.

"Alpha, teleport Samantha to the megaship," Zhane said.

"You got it Zhane," Alpha responded. Samantha was engulfed in a white light and disappeared. Zhane instantly returned to the fight, unable to grasp what happened.

"GUYS, Samantha is safe and on the megaship!" he called to his teammates.

"All right!" Corey said.

"One job down," Cassie said.

"Let's do this together!" Andros suggested.

"That won't destroy him," Seth said.

"Trust me, we know," Luke added.

"Yea, but if Alpha opens a portal, then that should be enough to launch him back to your time," TJ said.

"Did you hear that Alpha?" Carlos asked into his communicator.

"Loud and clear Carlos, I'm working on it," Alpha said.

"Space Rangers, Fire Weapons!" Andros cried, as the rangers put their weapons together and fired them all at once. The Storm Callers shifted into their inborn powers.

"Power of the Monsoon!"

"Power of the Hurricane!"

"Power of the Tornado!"

"Power of the Tsunami!"

"Power of Lightning!"

Much like the Ninja storm Rangers, rays of light power blasted from their hands, combing with the lasers from the Space Ranger's blaster, blasting right into Alagor's chest. The Rangers would never know how he did it, but Alpha managed to time the opening of the portal so well that it came up the second the powerful laser came into contact with Alagor's chest, tripping him back into the Storm Caller's time, along with the Dones.

"All right!" the rangers chorused, congratulating each other on a job well done. Meanwhile, a light formed around the unconscious Lina, then died down. Once it died down, she slowly opened her eyes, coming back to consciousness. She took off all the attachments on her and carefully got off of the medical cot, clutching her aching head.

"What happened?" she whispered, right before another light ball formed in her hand, dying down to reveal another stone.

"Huh?" she said before Zeek appeared.

"You're probably wondering why you have a stone when you haven't really done anything," he suggested. Lina nodded in a bit of a sarcastic manner. Zeek chuckled, glad to know the blast hadn't changed Lina completely.

"This time, it wasn't really about YOU learning something, it was about your teammates. You may be doing all the traveling, but this entire journey is about all of you working together. The boys had to learn that they may have to take steps they don't want to in order to fulfill their duties, hence their hesitation to work with the Space Rangers. They were successful in learning that which is how you were healed and how you got the stone," Zeek said. Lina took a second to grasp everything Zeek had said before she remembered everything.

"What about Alagor and Sam?" she asked.

"Alagor is back in your realm and Sam is in the mess hall eating ice cream. You may need to explain a few things to her, OR you could give her this soda," he said, causing a small cup of soda to appear in his hand. Lina took it from him and looked at him.

"What's in it?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Nothing dangerous. It will just erase her memory of any of the events that have happened in the last few hours," Zeek said.

"But what about her parents?" she asked. Zeek smirked.

"They think she's at daycare, anything else is beyond me," he explained. Lina sighed.

"Okay, the journey continues," she said sarcastically. Zeek playfully saluted before disappearing. A short time passed and the rangers returned to the Mega ship to discover Lina was well and had a new stone in hand. She related everything Zeek had to her to them, along with the soda she had given Sam. The little girl was now sleeping in her arms and she carefully handed her off to Seth. The five male Storm Callers had morphed into their suits before their portal opened up.

"Good luck sis," Seth said before disappearing.

"Bye guys, be safe," Lina said. Before he went through the portal, Luke gave Lina a small wave. She smiled and returned it, noticing something different about his gestures but couldn't figure out why. As soon as the boys had disappeared, Lina's portal started to form. She turned to the Space Rangers and smiled.

"I wish we had had more fun time together," she said sadly. The girls smiled at her.

"That would've been nice but you have a mission to complete," Ashley said.

"Good luck girl," Cassie said as the pink and yellow rangers engulfed the red ranger in a hug. Lina exchanged hugs with TJ, Andros, and Zhane. She finally came to Carlos and smiled at the Black Ranger.

"Thanks for everything Carlos," she said. He smiled at her.

"Good luck, Lina," he said before handing her a small bag. Lina gave him a questioning look.

"Open it," he said. Lina opened the bag and emptied to contents onto her hand. Their was a charm that looked like Carlos' turbo zord and a charm that looked like the astro megaship, along with a picture of the Turbo Team as well as the Space Ranger Team. Lina smiled and placed the contents into a special compartment in the device Zeek had given her. She then hugged Carlos and gave him a "friendly" kiss on the lips, short but sweet.

"Bye guys," she said before walking into the light and disappearing from sight. The Space Rangers waved goodbye, wondering where the Red Inferno Ranger was headed next.


	15. Chase Down On Terra Venture

Disclaimer: the usual………………

CHAPTER 15

Chase Down on Terra Venture

Lina was floating in a cloud of white light. She was used to this warp traveling by now and just sat back and sighed. The time was going faster than the speed of light but it seemed slow to her. At least slow enough to where she could sit back and think about everything that happened in the previous realm.

She had barely seen her teammates when she thought about it. She saw them for less than twenty minutes before they split up to search for the Space Rangers. Then she ran into Carlos and had the fight that had knocked her out. Then she saw her teammates for less than two hours because it was at least thirty minutes after she had received the stone when they returned to the ship with the Space Rangers. It may have been little time but it was enough to make her feel refreshed from missing home. She couldn't but wonder why Luke had been acting a little differently. He was usually so open and carefree but this past time was…well…different. She couldn't quite place her finger on it. She didn't remember the things he had said to her when she was in a coma but she remembered hearing his voice, and how soothing at had been to her. She smiled at the thought of how comfortable it had made her feel having him nearby. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when her floating suddenly became violent. She sat up, trying to grip edges that weren't even really there.

"What in the world…?" she tried to ask before feeling pressure pulling her down. She suddenly started to fall.

"AHHHH!" she yelled, covering her face with her arms as if to brace for the unexpected. Even through her barricade of her own body parts, Lina was able to make out a flash of light and now only hear but FEEL a loud thud.

"OW!" she cried, quickly taking her arms down and caressing her pained side. She opened her eyes to see if she was badly hurt but what she saw next made her forget all about her pain. Standing all around her were mostly young men and some women in uniforms. Amongst them were various people in other clothes. Lina instantly recognized some of the suits as the ones a couple of the rangers wore on Terra Venture during the Lost Galaxy era. It suddenly dawned on Lina that she had made her grand entrance into this realm with nearly a hundred people as an audience. She gave a nervous smile and glanced around as suspicious eyes bore into her.

"This is going to be interesting," she said to herself through a plastered smile. One of the bulkier muscled cadets stepped forward.

"Ma'm, you're going to have to come with us," he said firmly. He reached to try and grab Lina's arm but she pushed it away in a simple martial arts move.

"Sorry, not happening yet," she said before pulling a move that even shocked her. She bent her knees down low and then spun her body hard. She effect caused her to start spinning in the air until she stepped on the ledge of the second story.

"Whoa, cool," she said as she caught her balance. She did a back flip as two more cadets tried to get a hold of her, but they ended running into each other instead. Lina turned on her heel and ran like a rocket away from the mob after her

"Zeek, this better not be one of your stupid tests," she muttered through her teeth as she kept running. Suddenly, she heard several high-pitched screams that she recognized instantly to be a group of little kids. She stopped dead in her tracks and looked outside to see a group of kids surrounded by Sting-Wingers. She whined a little to herself then ran outside through some double doors. Lina knew that there was no point to morph at this point because she already pumped on adrenaline from the chase down and easily took out all of the Sting-Wingers. A back-flip here, a front-flip there, and nearly half of them took out themselves from running head first into each other. A few low spinning heel kicks, a couple of ax kicks, some big time roundhouse kicks, and the rest were history. The children were in awe at her martial arts skills.

"Wow, thanks lady," they said, running up to her and giving her a hug. Lina smiled as she tried desperately to catch her breath. She quickly remembered the dozens of troops that had been chasing her and looked around for any sign of them, knowing she had gained a good lead in the chase. She gasped when she spotted a few groups looking around in the inside of the building. She snuck away from the kids and took off running just as one spotted her.

"THERE SHE IS!" he screamed, loud enough to be heard from the outside of the building. Lina kept running as fast as her legs could carry her. She thanked the heavens for all of those years she had dedicated to martial arts, dance, and gymnastics because she would have no strength at that point had it not been the great shape she was in. She glanced back as she ran, only to crash right into someone. The two bodies tumbled to the ground as a new amount of pain surged through Lina, causing any she had gained since being in the realm to resurface.

"Ow, sorry…," she started to say as she tried to work through the pain.

"It's okay, no harm done. Are you all right?" asked a calming voice. Lina managed to adjust her vision long enough to realize she had smashed straight into Kai, the Blue Lost Galaxy Ranger.

'What is it with me and Blue Rangers so far?' she thought to herself as Kai helped her up. They stared at each other a little bit. Kai was a little fascinated by the new beauty before him.

"I thought I had met everyone on Terra Venture, but I don't recall ever meeting you," he said with a smile, still staring at her. Lina actually felt herself getting a little nervous from that comment.

"Well, um, there's a reason for that and I will be happy to explain that to you later but right now, I have to go," she said before running off in the other direction. Kai watched her take off, right before a group of troops ran past him, going directly after her. His morpher beeped just as the last troop ran past him.

"Kai here, what's up?" he asked. Meanwhile, Lina ran into an open center where a lot of people were roaming around, enjoying the day when another group of screams rang through the air. This time, Lina knew it wasn't just a bunch of kids. She glanced over and saw people hiding or crouching down at the mercy of Trakeena and the Sting Wingers. The power rangers were trying desperately to fight them off as well as rescue some people caught in a blazing circle of fire. They didn't have the protection to walk straight through the fire, and some how the flames just kept rising every time they tried to jump over into the circle. Even Mike, the Magna Defender's armor couldn't keep out the scorching heat.

"Somebody help us!" screamed a teenage girl from inside, as she clutched to a man Lina guessed was her father. She sighed, knowing she had a free moment, as the troops were now wrapped up in fighting Sting-Wingers. She knew that her powers were modeled after the ninja storm rangers, so she tapped into "inner power" self of hers and concentrated on the fire. She held out her hands and her deep concentration caused her eyes to change color as a wind started to pick. The circle of fire started to turn into a stream of fire that floated into Lina's direction and encircled her like a tornado. Everyone, good and evil, had their eyes on Lina just as the fire around the innocent civilians died down. Damon and Kendrix ran to them and got them out of the way before anything else happened. Lina suddenly felt a surge of energy.

"HA, POWER OF THE INFERNO!" she cried. The flames seemed to burst and engulfed her body, quickly dying down to reveal a new armored suit for Lina.

"Now there's something you don't see everyday," Damon said. Trakeena snarled at the new ranger.

"Sting-Wingers, back to the ship!" she ordered before disappearing herself. Lina, again, became real nervous as she knew there were many eyes on her. She powered down and began to slowly back away before feeling a body right behind her. She slowly turned around to come face to face with Commander Stanton.

"I think you'd better come with me," he said. Lina moaned.

'This is going to be fun one,' she thought sarcastically.


	16. Welcome to a New Power

Disclaimer: the usual…………………….

CHAPTER 16

Welcome to a New Power

The walk to wherever Commander Stanton was taking her was quiet and nerve racking for Lina. She felt eyes burning into her from the soldiers who walked behind her. She was led into a small office where she stood in front of a desk that Commander Stanton went to sit at. One of the soldiers pushed down on her shoulder, causing her to collapse into a chair.

"Sit down," he ordered. Lina glared up at him and held up her hand threateningly, knowing the soldier knew that she could launch fireballs from her hand. He stepped back next to his comrade, obviously intimidated by the young woman before him. Commander Stanton cleared his throat, gaining Lina's attention as she turned back to him.

"I was informed by your method of arrival on Terra Venture. I must say that I was worried until I was informed of your actions to help a group of children and then witnessing your abilities for myself just now," Commander Stanton explained. There was one thing Lina could not stand and that was to be mistaken for the enemy. She knew Commander Stanton wasn't accusing her of that but she wanted to reassure him.

"I'm not a threat to Terra Venture," she said seriously and reassuringly. Commander Stanton smirked at Lina's professionalism.

"I believe you, for now. I have a feeling I'll need to know your story eventually, but for now it will be your business," Stanton said, taking Lina a little by surprise.

"Thank you," she said, a little confused. She watched as Commander Stanton got up and walked over to his closet, he pulled a bundle of stuff and handed it to Lina. She looked at it, realizing it was a shirt and jacket, similar to the clothes cadets on Terra Venture wore.

"During your stay on Terra Venture, I would like you to work as a temporary/honorary cadet. I'm sure you will pick up on things quickly enough," Commander Stanton explained. Lina sat still in her chair, stunned.

"Okay…sir," she said politely but slightly nervously. Stanton smiled at her immediate obedience.

"All right then. I think I'll cut you loose so you can explore this place a little. I have to go brief some of my soldiers that they are not to attack you. All thought after that display with the fire, I'm not sure who would. I'll come and find you later," Commander Stanton explained. Lina got up from her chair and silently shook Commander Stanton's hand. The two soldiers parted ways, giving Lina enough room to walk out of the door. Meanwhile, Leo, Kai, Mike, and Damon were in an open eating area, talking about the fight they had just witnessed.

"Man, who was that girl?" Damon asked. Kai kept quiet. He knew that she was the girl he had run into earlier, but he didn't know anything about her, aside from the fact that she was beautiful.

"I don't know but I'd like to be a fly on the wall in the meeting with her and Commander Stanton," Leo admitted.

"We'll all probably know soon enough what the deal is with this girl," Mike said, taking a sip of his soda. Kai perked up a little when he saw Lina walk by the eating area, wearing the shirt and other stuff Commander Stanton had given her.

"Uh, I'll catch you guys later," he said, before bolting from his seat and running after Lina.

"KAI!" they called after him, not realizing he was running after Lina. In his sprint to catch up with Lina, Kai nearly collided with Kendrix and Maya.

"Kai!" Maya called.

"Where's the fire!" Kendrix cried after him as he kept on running. Lina was just walking along, exploring the outdoor area of Terra Venture. She saw a huge tree a short distance away and suddenly got a childhood urge to climb it. Laughing all the way up until she got to the highest branch she could get to. On the way up, her hat fell off of her head and slowly floated to the ground. She leaned back against the tree and smiled, relaxing, so it seemed, for the first time since she started this whole power ranger adventure started. She smiled as the makeshift sun beat down on her face and she breathed in the clear air. She sighed happily.

"I miss this," she said quietly to herself. Meanwhile, Kai had finally caught up to Lina but didn't realize it. He was out of breath when he finally realized that Lina was no where in sight.

"Oh man, how can someone walk that fast?" he asked himself before something fell on his head. He fumbled with it for a second before realizing it was a hat. He looked up from where it had fallen only to see a figure sitting on a high branch.

"HEY!" he called up. Lina snapped out of her trance and looked around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.

"DOWN HERE!" it called again. Lina looked down over the branch and saw Kai standing at the bottom of the tree.

"Um...hi!" she called to him.

"I'm Kai, can I talk to you!" he asked simply. It was actually refreshing to Lina to meet a guy who was so politely straightforward.

"Uh…sure, I'll be down in a second!" she cried as she got a good grip on the tree. Kai was amazed at how fast and gracefully Lina climbed down the tree. She was close to getting to the ground when she missed a branch and started to fall. Kai immediately reacted and caught her in his arms. It took Lina a second to recover but when the two rangers realized the position they were in, they got a little embarrassed. Feeling his cheeks burning with embarrassment, Kai swallowed hard as did Lina.

"Thanks," Lina said nervously, signaling for Kai to put her down. Kai gently placed her on the ground. She kept one hand on his shoulder to keep herself balanced as she got her bearings together. Kai handed her the hat that Commander Stanton had given her.

"Thanks," Lina said again.

"So, um, what's your name?" Kai asked.

"Lina Baxter," she replied.

"I hope Commander Stanton wasn't too hard on you," Kai said sincerely, although Lina could tell he was struggling to make conversation.

"No, he was nice about it. He said I didn't have to tell him my story just yet but while I'm here, I'm going to be a temporary soldier," Lina explained. Kai smiled.

"That's cool. I could, you know, maybe show you around. Show you the tools and tips of the trade?" Kai offered, having a hopeful look in his smile. Lina smiled.

"That would be great," Lina said, smiling at the Blue Lost Galaxy Ranger as he beamed back at her.

"Excuse me Lina," came a familiar voice. The two turned to see Commander Stanton standing nearby.

"Hello Commander," Kai said. Stanton acknowledged Kai with a polite head nod.

"Come on Lina, I want to show you your room," Commander Stanton said. Lina turned to Kai and smiled.

"I'll catch you later," she said, before following Stanton. Kai waved at her, smiling as the new beauty, who was still a mystery to him walked away. A few minutes later, Stanton and Lina walked into the huge room, that was more like a suite, that Lina would be staying in.

"I hope this will do," Commander Stanton said. Lina was shocked at the immaculate room before her.

"This is perfect sir," Lina said. Stanton smiled.

"I'll leave you to rest up a little," he said before turning to leave. Lina was still taking in her new room with a smile when a sharp pain struck her. She collapsed to her knees, not being able to see the electric currents illuminating from her body as the pain surged through her.

"What is this?" she said as she clutched her stomach. The pain started to intensify and finally got to a point where Lina couldn't take it anymore.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she cried, a red light and electric current surging through her body and exploding through her room.


	17. Power of Control

Disclaimer: the usual………

CHAPTER 17

Power of Control

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Lina cried as the pain surging through her body began to reach new heights. She was in such a great deal of pain, that she didn't notice the soldiers who had come back in to aid her. Commander Stanton was among them.

"Lina! Lina!" he cried, trying to calm her down. None of the soldiers could get anywhere near her. Whenever she wasn't fighting back from the pain, the electric currents from her body were shocking them.

"Sir, we have to sedate her!" one of the soldiers screamed over Lina's cries of pain. As quickly as the pain had come, it suddenly stopped. Lina collapsed to the floor, breathless and tears running down her reddened face. Commander Stanton and the other soldiers were frozen in their places, unsure of what was going on.

"Lina," Commander Stanton said quietly. Lina looked up at the man kneeling beside her. The tears in her pain-stricken eyes were enough to break Commander Stanton's heart. For some reason, he was viewing this girl, who seemed to be all alone, like she was his own daughter.

"I don't know what that was, but I couldn't control it," Lina explained softly, scared to put forth too much energy, as she wasn't sure what set off the energy surge.

"Let's get you to the infirmary," Commander Stanton said reassuringly. Lina, fearful of hurting someone unintentionally, was reluctant to go but in the end, agreed. A short time passed and the doctor could not find anything wrong with her. After relating this news to them, Commander Stanton asked to speak with the doctor outside.

"Are you kidding me! How could you not find something wrong with her? There were electric circuits coming out of her for crying out loud!" Commander Stanton shouted. While the doctor and Commander Stanton argued right where Lina could hear, she decided to take the opportunity to make a quick exit. Unfortunately the only way she could was out the window. She opened it, grabbed the window sill, and gracefully pulled herself up and out the window, landing on both feet. She reached back and closed the window back. She turned to leave only to stop short at a smirking figure.

"Breaking out?" Kai asked, leaning on a nearby tree with a file in his hand. Lina smirked back and placed her hands on her hips.

"Are you stalking me or something?" she asked. Kai walked towards her casually.

"Terra Venture's big but it's not that big. What are you up to anyway?" he questioned. Lina decided that it would be better to withhold some information from him, seeing as she wasn't sure of what was going on herself. So she decided to tell a partial truth.

"Commander Stanton wanted me to have a physical done. I didn't see any reason to stay any longer, so I snuck out," Lina explained, putting on a confidant expression. Kai just smiled at her, a little amused by her.

"Well in that case, are you hungry?" Kai asked. Lina stopped and realized that she was in fact VERY hungry. Her stomach growled and she placed a hand over it, giving Kai an embarrassed expression. Both of them started laughing.

"I'll take that as a yes, come on," Kai said, offering his hand. Lina smiled and placed her hand in his, following his lead. A short time later, they were laughing and eating, enjoying some good food and each other's company.

"I cannot remember the last time I had a burger," she said, taking a bite out of her cheese-burger. Kai laughed as he chewed on his fries and shook his head. Lina glanced at him with a suspicious look.

"What?" she asked.

"It's just…most girls around here are so salad oriented, it's refreshing to find a girl who eats meat," he said. Lina chuckled. She had to admit that there were a lot of girls at her school like that.

"There's nothing wrong with liking salads but I'm not afraid to admit that I'm a carnivore," she said, taking another bite of her burger. Dinner passed by quickly for them but they weren't ready to part ways, so as the sky got dim on Terra Venture, they decided to walk off their dinner.

"So, you're a red ranger and your favorite color is blue?" he asked, smiling a little.

"Yea, what's wrong with that?" she asked.

"Nothing wrong with it where I'm coming from," Kai replied. Lina smiled and turned her head to keep from laughing. She wasn't sure if Kai was aware that she knew he was a blue ranger, but she knew what he had meant none the less.

"WATCH OUT!" came some voices. Lina and Kai looked up to see a group of pre-teens coming towards them on skates. They dodged everywhere to avoid colliding with the kids as they whizzed by. Right as the last kid skated by, Lina's body twisted in an awkward way and she felt herself falling forward. Once again, Kai came to her rescue and grabbed her. The shock of the kids coming by as well as they fall and grab held them still for a few minutes as they gazed into each other's eyes, their lips very close. Kai swallowed a little and leaned forward, lightly brushing his lips against Lina's. Lina closed her eyes and savored the sweet kiss. They parted a little, giving Lina a chance to stand up straight. The two straightened their clothes and laughed a little, before meeting each other's gaze once again. Lina smiled up at Kai. The two leaned in and met in another soft kiss. Lina felt like she was on cloud nine until a familiar pain started to boil in her stomach. She quickly broke the kiss and backed away from Kai.

"I've got to go…I'm sorry…I'll talk to you tomorrow!" she said quickly before running away. Kai was dumbfounded.

"Lina! Lina wait!" he cried before breaking into a run after her. Lina tried her best to get as far away from Kai as possible. She didn't want to take a chance that this could hurt him. Her attempts were met with failure as a wave of pain greater than the last time washed over her and she doubled over in pain, screaming. Kai stopped a few feet from her and stared, unsure of what to do or think. Lina was in so much pain that she was not aware that every so often, the armored red ranger suit would appear on her before disappearing again.

"Somebody help me!" she cried in desperation. Kai was shocked until some Sting-Wingers and Trakeena appeared. He jumped into a defensive stance in front of Lina.

"We'll be taking your little girlfriend with us!" Trakeena declared.

"Not likely. Go Galactic!" Kai yelled. He morphed into suit and engaged in a fight, doing his best to keep the Sting-Wingers and Trakeena away from Lina, not that any of them could get too close with the electric currents coming from her.

'You must learn to control the Inferno armor, you were not supposed to get it yet. Now you must make yourself ready to accept it,' said a familiar voice in her head.

"Zeek, wherever you are, I'm going to get you for this," she said sarcastically as she tried to fight through the pain, though it tired her out more. She managed to turn over and observe the fight, noticing that the other rangers and the Magna Defender were approaching from the other end of the field.

"How am I supposed to control powers I wasn't ready to get in the first place?" she asked herself before another wave of pain came.

"AHHHHHH!" she cried, releasing frustration of the pain in her body. Her body started glowing red once again, brightening to the point that no one could see her.


	18. Controlled In Time

Disclaimer: the usual….

CHAPTER 18

Controlled In Time

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Lina cried as the bright red light consumed her body. It was so weird. It was like this comforting, warm feeling was supposed to be there but instead it was pure, unbearable pain. She was so sick of feeling pain. She didn't know how she was supposed to learn to control the armor in the long run, but she was sure going to learn to do it for this fight.

"HA! POWER OF THE INFERNO BLAZE!" she cried, causing the light to burst from her body, leaving her clad in the red Inferno armor atop her normal ranger suit. The energy light burst knocked the Sting-Wingers and Rangers off their feet. Trakeena growled.

"You don't scare me," she said before lunging towards Lina, who easily blocked her attack.

"That's because you're stupid," Lina declared, sincerity written all over her comment. She head butted Trakeena, who doubled over in pain and rolled away trying to regain her composure. Lina summoned a sword from nowhere and engaged in a fight with Trakeena. The rangers finished off the Sting-Wingers, trying not to get distracted by the amazing fighting Lina was doing. After several minutes of fighting, it became so obvious to anyone that Lina was winning. Even Trakeena was willing to admit she was losing the fight with the Red Inferno Ranger, just not out loud.

"Man, where did she learn to fight?" Damon asked in amazement. Kai was oblivious to any of his teammates. Something in his gut told him that this fight was not going well, even though Lina was kicking butt.

"This is nuts, she's winning. Why am I so worried?" he asked himself. He watched as Lina brought her sword up to bring a final strike on Trakeena when she dropped it and screamed.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she cried as electric circuits bigger than any before surged from her body, causing her to convulse and her suit to go in and out of power. She dropped to her knees and kept screaming as Trakeena backed off to get away from the electric currents.

"LINA!" Kai screamed, attempting to run to her aid.

"Dude don't!" Leo shouted as he and Mike did their best to restrain Kai. As quickly as the attack had started, it stopped and Lina collapsed, unconscious. Trakeena was too quick for the rangers, however.

"STING-WINGERS!" she cried.

"NO!" Kai screamed, breaking free from Leo and Mike's grip and running towards Lina as Sting-Wingers appeared. They took hold of the unconscious Inferno Ranger and disappeared before Kai could even get close enough. He fell to his knees and punched the ground in frustration.

"AH, CRAP! WHAT IS GOING ON!" he cried, to no one in particular. The others were cautious in approaching him.

"Kai, come on, let's go see if Alpha can track her from the Astro Megaship," Maya offered. Kai slowly but surely followed his teammates back to the Astro Megaship. Meanwhile, somewhere on Terra Venture, Trakeena had unconscious Lina encased in a power box, in an attempt to try and tap into her powers.

"Hm, even if we don't get HER powers, we can trade the Lights of Orion for her to the rangers, then destroy them before we turn her over," she said before walking out of the room. The rangers were pressing in numerous codes, trying to track down any sign of Lina.

"Rangers, there's a message coming in," Alpha said, bringing up the message. The screen showed Trakeena in a seemingly deserted location.

"That's Jet Star Point," Mike said, recognizing the location.

"Rangers, if you ever want to see your precious Inferno Ranger again, you will bring me the Lights of Orion and don't make me wait," Trakeena ordered before cutting the message. The rangers were silent.

"We can't just give her the Lights of Orion," Kendrix said.

"But we can't just leave Lina like that," Damon said. Kai bit his lip, he was so worried about Lina.

"Rangers, I have an idea," Alpha said. The rangers leaned and listened to Alpha's plan, liking everything they heard. Twenty minutes later found the rangers walking towards the cave Trakeena was using at Jet Star Point. They looked around cautious, unmorphed, when they saw Trakeena coming out of the cave, followed by Sting-Wingers holding Lina by the arms. Kai had to restrain himself from running to her and beating the crap out of the Sting-Wingers. Leo approached Trakeena, a scowl on his face.

"Here are the Lights of Orion," he said, handing over the box and backing away cautiously. Trakeena opened the box and smiled at the sight before her.

"Now release Lina," Mike said. Trakeena glanced at him and snapped her fingers. The Sting-Wingers pushed Lina forward. She stumbled a little but kept going to the rangers. Kai was the first one to get to her. He engulfed her in a hug, causing her face to be to the other smiling rangers.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Lina was silent. All she did was crack the most evil smile the rangers had ever seen. She pushed Kai off her and threw an outside crescent kick, then swept him off his feet with a low spinning heel kick. She stood straight up and smirked at the rangers before turning into a Sting-Winger. Trakeena laughed.

"Do you think I'd hand over a powerful ranger like her so easily?" she asked the rangers as more Sting-Wingers ambushed them before they had a chance to morph. They tried so hard to fight back, but there was so too many of them. Kai's arms were bounded by Sting-Wingers as he struggled against them.

"LINA!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, distress and pain filling the air. The voice carried to the room where Lina still laid unconscious. The distress and pain in Kai's voice carried into her body and somehow managed to transform the pain she usually felt in the Inferno Armor transformation into that of warm, and comforting with control all over it. Her eyes flew open. The next thing anyone knew, a huge explosion erupted from the cave. The rangers thought Lina was gone and even Trakeena was surprised by it, until a shadow was seen walking through the fire. Lina walked towards the group, unmorphed but confidant in her stance.

"Let them go, now!" she demanded of Trakeena. Trakeena just smirked, thinking Lina still was unstable.

"Make me," she retorted. Lina smirked.

"Gladly. STORM CALLERS, GO! POWER OF THE INFERNO! BLAZE ARMOR!" Lina screamed, calling forth the Inferno Armor at will. That was an immediate bad sign for Trakeena, that Lina could control the Armor herself.

"Inferno Blaze!" Lina cried as she directed a line of fire at a huge group of Sting-Wingers. This gave the rangers enough time for morph.

"GO GALACTIC! MAGNA DEFENDER!" they cried. Once they were all morphed, the fight ensued. Trakeena fought as well, but still clutched the box Leo had given her. The Sting-Wingers just did not want to back off.

"Guys, let's go all out," Leo said. The other rangers gathered around him.

"Lights of Orion activate!" they cried, calling forth the power Trakeena thought she had. She stood awe struck as the armor came to them and together with Mike and Lina in their most powerful forms, took out the entire army of Sting-Wingers. When the dust cleared, the seven warriors approached Trakeena.

"What..how?" she asked, looking from them to the box. She opened the box and picked up one of the object, only to watch it disappear before her along with the others.

"It's a holographic image created by the one and only Alpha," Damon said. Trakeena scowled at having been tricked.

"This isn't over," she declared before disappearing.

"It never is," Leo said before everyone turned to Lina.

"How did you get control of your armor?" Kai asked.

"It was thanks to you Kai. When I heard you scream, I realized I needed the armor to protect the people I care about, whether I'm fighting with them or fighting to keep them safe by being on this mission. That's how I got control of it and my next stone," Lina said bringing out the stone that had been given to her once she had controlled the armor.

"What does that mean?" Kendrix asked. Lina wouldn't look at them when she answered.

"I only two hours before I leave," she said. The rangers were stunned. They didn't realize they would have such a short time with their friend. Kai was especially upset. He wasn't sure what to think.

"Well, come on guys, let's enjoy the time we have left with Lina," Damon said, trying to cheer up the crowd. The others agreed and went about to enjoy every last minute they could with Lina. Nearly two hours later, the gang had all enjoyed a good meal together and were now taking pictures near the same tree Lina had climbed.

"One, two three…smile!" Mike said as the camera took the picture of all of them. They laughed and gathered all the cameras that had been used. Kai grabbed Lina's hand and took her aside.

"I want you to have this," he said, handing her a small box. Lina smiled and opened it, gasping at the beautiful charm that resembled Terra Venture.

"Kai, I love it. When did you get this?" she asked. Kai smiled sheepishly.

"When I took that extra long bathroom break an hour ago," he explained. Lina laughed as she clipped it to her bracelet. She engulfed Kai in a hug before standing back and smiling at him. He smiled back and the two exchanged a sweet kiss.

"Aw, that's so sweet," Maya said. The two quickly broke the kiss, to see the other rangers standing near them, smiling. The laughter died when the portal for Lina suddenly opened up. There was a moment of sadness before Lina finally spoke.

"I'll miss you guys. Take care and fight hard," she said, glancing at each of them, then giving Kai a quick kiss on the cheek. She walked through the portal as fast as she could, not looking back for fear of breaking down into tears.

"Bye Lina," Kai said as the portal closed up behind her.


	19. Rescue Of Lightspeed

Disclaimer: the usual…………………….

Chapter 19

Rescue of Light Speed

Lina had once again fallen into a sleeping kind of trance while she realm hopped. Before she knew it, she was waking up having arrived in what was supposed to be the Light Speed Rescue Rangers realm. She did not even get a chance to look around to make sure it was the right place before she heard an explosion. It was then that Lina realized she had landed in an alley. She crept alongside the wall and peeked out to one side, seeing the last thing she wanted to face right when she got into a new realm.

"The end has finally come for you rangers!" Vypra declared as she her companions laughed at the rangers. They were chained together and were hanging about ten feet in the air. Approaching from the opposite side was a group of minions carrying a board filled with sharp objects sticking out. Lina knew they were going to put it under the rangers.

"Time to go to work," she said before shifting into her morphing motions.

"WAIT!" came a hushed yell as a hand grabbed her wrist. Lina got into a stance but stopped herself when she realized it was Zeek.

"What are you doing? Trying to give me a heart attack before I can legally drink!" she asked.

"It's dangerous for you to morph right now. We think Alagor released some type of virus into our computer system which is messing with all of your powers. Luke tried to morph and his powers ended up attacking him," Zeek explained. Lina's eyes widened in horror at the mention of Luke in distress.

"Is he okay?" she asked. Zeek held up a hand to silence her.

"He's fine. Just, until I come back and tell you otherwise, limit yourself to using your internal powers and martial arts skills only. Once you've allied with the rangers, I'm sure that's all you'll need, but just try not to morph," Zeek said before disappearing without another word. Lina groaned.

"I hate it when he does that," she said before looking back to the commotion outside the alleyway. She took a deep breath.

"Here I go," she said before making her way into the commotion.

"HURRY UP!" Vypra yelled to the group that was pushing the sharp board towards the rangers.

"Ah, what are we going to go?" Kelsey asked as she struggled against the chains and ropes.

"I'd say praying for a miracle is a great option right about now," Joel commented sarcastically yet slightly seriously. Suddenly, the rangers heard something and looked over to the group that had been pushing the board. They were running around, all engulfed in flames.

"Wow, good call Joel," Dana said.

"I didn't do it," Joel said, still amazed at what happened. Vypra growled in anger as she approached the group of burning minions. They were all in ashes and pieces by the time she got to them.

"SPREAD OUT, FIND OUT WHO DID THIS!" she ordered of everyone else who was with her. All of their concentration was going into finding who was interfering that they didn't take much notice of Ms. Fairweather and Captain Mitchell arriving to help the rangers down.

"All rights, reinforcements," Ryan said as his dad got to work in getting the rangers down. Lina, meanwhile, had used the device Zeek had given her to use an invisibility shield. She know he had said to use her internal powers but a simple shield couldn't do too much to her, so she took a chance. She took the first opportunity she got and ran out of her hiding place, kicking and punching as fast and as accurately as she could. Nobody, not even the rangers, knew what was going on. They watched in amazement as one monster after another struggled before ultimately being knocked to their feet, seemingly by nothing at all.

"Okay, what's all this?" Captain Mitchell asked.

"Wish we knew sir," Carter said. Vypra was following the motions of her companions with a glare in her eye. She followed as best as she could and when she thought the time was right, she struck with her sword, getting a very lucky hit in. Lina flew backwards from the force of the hit and the invisible force field broke, revealing her to the rangers and to Vypra.

"You will pay for interfering with my plans," she declared, approaching Lina to finish her off. Lina backed away, pain still surging through her from the force of the blow. Suddenly, a blast knocked the sword out of Vypra's hand. Everyone turned towards the rangers, however, even some of the rangers were stunned.

"Chad?" Carter asked, looked at the blue ranger as he held up a freshly fired blaster. Vypra let out a growl of frustration.

"This isn't over!" she yelled before disappearing.

"When is it ever?" Lina asked to basically no one as she struggled to get up. She was surprised to feel two strong pair of arms go around her own. She gasped and looked up to see that it was Chad.

"Are you all right?" he asked gently, as his visor came down. Lina tried to nod her head but pain came again and she winced, almost falling into Chad.

"Let's get her back to base so I can check her out," Ms. Fairweather said. The rangers nodded in agreement and Lina nervously followed, as she couldn't really run away in the pain she was in. She couldn't understand why she felt vulnerability when she had been so head strong in the other realms. Maybe it was part of her test, she didn't know.

A short time later, Lina had her stomach bandaged by Ms. Fairweather. Dana and Kelsey had come to assist in anyway that could.

"There, much better. How does that feel?" Ms. Fairweather asked.

"Fine," Lina replied shyly. Ms. Fairweather glanced at the pink and yellow rangers and shrugged her shoulders, unsure of how to further question the mystery girl.

"What's your name? My name's Kelsey and this is Dana," the yellow ranger said in her typical perky manner.

"Lina," the Inferno Ranger replied, not really glancing at them. The three girls glanced at each other again but before they could speak, Lina spoke up.

"You want to know if I was responsible for the fire, right?" she asked suddenly. Despite being shocked, the others managed to nod their heads. Lina held out her palm and concentrated, causing a small flame to ignite in her hand.

"Oh wow," Dana said, not taking her gaze off the flame. Lina further showed the extent of her power by performing small tricks, like creating a fire stream around her hands.

"I've got to go get Captain Mitchell," Ms. Fairweather said before bolting from the room, a curious smile upon her face. Lina abruptly stopped her tricks and shyly sat back on the medical table she was sitting on.

"Well, um, we'll be right back. We promised the guys we'd tell them how you were doing," Dana said as she ushered Kelsey out of the room. Lina sighed in relief after they left, still not understanding why she was so shy and vulnerable right now. She glanced over at one of the windows that looked out into the ocean that was the location of the base. She smiled in fascination as she watched the ocean life swim by. She was so caught up in it, that she didn't notice the swoosh of the doors as they opened. Chad walked in with a plate of food, only to stop and see a girl with fire powers entranced by the life of the sea. It was kind of amusing to him and let out a small chuckle. Lina heard him and turned around.

"Uh, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I brought you something to eat. I wasn't sure what you would like, so I just brought a sampler .. uh.. yeah, I'm Chad," rambled the typically quiet blue ranger as he put his hand out to, what he considered, beautiful stranger. Lina smiled at the gesture, not noticing that she was relaxing for almost the first time since she got there.

"Lina," she said, shaking his hand. The two rangers engaged in a conversation as they shared the food Chad had brought her.

'Zeek, whatever this test is, it better be worth it,' Lina thought to herself before Chad said something to make her laugh.


	20. Time For Everything

Disclaimer: the usual…………………..

CHAPTER 20

Time for Everything

Lina had settled into a simple kind of life over the next few days with the Light Speed Rangers. She broke through her shyness but she hadn't quite gotten back to her spunky self and she still wasn't sure why. She got along with Joel, Carter, and Ryan pretty well but she mostly spent her time with Dana, Kelsey, and Chad. Lina wasn't sure what drew her towards the gentle blue ranger, but she wasn't about to back down from finding out. This particular day, she was getting ready to go out with Chad, but he hadn't told her what they were doing. She was excited nonetheless. When they left the base, Chad drove one of the Light Speed jeeps and put a blindfold over Lina's eyes, causing the Red Inferno Ranger to laugh.

She did feel a twinge of regret when she had such a good time with any of them, especially Chad. She had managed to come up with some type of explanation for her powers, but hadn't told the entire truth, least of all told them that she was a ranger from another realm. She hoped she had made the right decision in doing that. She came out of her trance when the jeep stopped. Using her overly trained senses, she managed to get out of the jeep, blindfolded, by herself with the grace of a dancer, but Chad insisted on leading her the rest of the way and Lina had no objections.

"Chad, come on, where are you taking me?" Lina pleaded while laughing. The Blue ranger laughed at his 'date'.

"You'll see," he whispered. He stopped her for a second and Lina thought she heard splashing. The blindfold started to loosen and Lina was shown the surprise. Chad had brought her to the water park where he was working when first approached to become the Blue Light Speed Ranger. There was an alcove on one of the platforms with a picnic set overlooking both the whale tank and the nearby beach. Inside the tank were two beautiful orca whales.

"Oh my gosh, this is so cool," Lina exclaimed, fascinated by the sight before her. Chad smiled, happy to see that all his planning had paid off.

"You want to feed them?" he asked. Lina looked a little shocked at his question but smiled and nodded nonetheless. After some time with playing with the whales, Chad led Lina over to the picnic he had set up for them. Not a lot of eating went on as the couple chatted, laughed, and enjoyed each other's company. The next thing Lina, she was walking hand in hand with Chad down the beach, holding her shoes in the other hand. Lina's mind started to wonder. She became curious about the fact that nothing out of the ordinary had happened since after the fight when she had first arrived. She felt Chad stopped and looked at him, then glanced in the direction where his gaze was focused. She noticed in the distance that a young boy, looked around fourteen, was being haggled by three older looking boys. They pushed the younger boy around, laughing like it was the joke of the century to see the little boy suffer. Lina started to feel her old self surface and started to walk towards the group but Chad held her back. She looked at him in surprise.

"Shouldn't we help him?" she pleaded. Chad only smiled softly.

"There is a time and a place for everything. And the time right now is to let this battle be fought without us," he said wisely. Lina didn't quite understand and was about to protest when she heard a familiar yell of a martial artist. She jerked her head in the direction of the yell and nearly doubled over in laughter. The tiny boy was defending himself well against the three older boys. He wasn't beating them to a pulp but he was using enough force to get his point across. Lina was pleasingly shocked. She scowled playfully when she heard Chad chuckle. She glanced up at him suspiciously.

"You knew that was going to happen, didn't you?" she asked. Chad only smiled.

"Well, seeing as that he's been one of my students for the last six years, yeah," Chad managed to get out before breaking down into laughter at Lina's reaction. She playfully let out a yell and chased after him, immediately laughing along with him. Chad ran for a little bit then stopped and scooped Lina up before she had a chance to stop.

"CHAD! What are you doing? Put me down," she ordered. Chad shrugged his shoulders and started to walk into the ocean.

"Uh, uh, don't even think about it," Lina warned, turning to Chad and clutching his shoulders.

"And what if I already have?" he asked playfully. Lina chuckled.

"Then don't DO it," she replied, leaning in closer to him to latch her arms around him. If she was going down, she was going to take him down with her. She didn't realize how close the gesture put her to him until they were gazing at each other. Instinctively, both rangers leaned in, their lips getting closer and closer until………

"CHAD! COME IN! DO YOU READ ME!" came the familiar voice of Captain Mitchell. The two got over the initial shock and Chad gently put Lina down.

"I read you Captain," Chad replied.

"Get back to the base. We need you immediately," the Captain said.

"Yes sir. I'm on my way," Chad responded before looking regretfully at Lina. He gently put an arm around her waist, not sure what to say. Lina only half smiled and looked up at him.

"A time and a place for EVERYTHING," she said, sending his words back at him. Chad had to let out a soft laugh before the two retraced their steps back to the jeep and made their way to the underwater base. Once they made it, both ran into the main conference room where the other rangers, Captain Mitchell, and Ms. Fairweather were waiting.

"What's going on?" Lina asked.

"Loki and the Batlings are attacking the city. They're on a rampage. Get down there and stop them before Vypra and Diabolico show up," Captain Mitchell ordered.

"Yes, sir. Let's go guys!" Carter said. The rangers stood in formation, while Lina stood back. Despite having her powers, the others were hesitant to let her fight and she knew it.

"Light Speed, Rescue!"

"Titanium Power!" Flashes of color blinded Lina's vision as the spandex suits of the Light Speed era covered the bodies of the rangers. They immediately rushed out to engage in the never ending battle to keep evil at bay. Lina sighed, wondering what the whole point of this realm was. She perked up when she saw that the rangers had arrived and took to the battle in the usual manner. Kicks and punches flew in every sense of the word. Eventually, weapons came out and the rangers seemed to be holding their own. Lina bit her lip, wondering what this uneasy feeling in her stomach was. She finally spotted it and gasped.

"Lina what is it?" Ms. Fairweather asked. Lina couldn't respond. She knew communicating the problem to them wouldn't do any good so she ran from the room, going for the escape hatch.

"LINA!" Captain Mitchell called. He was about to go after her when Ms. Fairweather clutched his shoulder.

"SIR!" she cried desperately. He turned around and gasped at the sight. Dana was being held by her throat by Diabolico. The other rangers tried to help her, but something was off. They were exhausted and plus, he seemed to have new found strength. They watched helplessly as he tossed Dana aside like she was a rag doll.

"I will enjoy this," he said. Suddenly, a fire ball grazed his back. He turned around and growled. He knew someone was there but he couldn't see anyone.

"Lina, stay back," Chad whispered to himself. Lina, who was kneeling behind some crates, scolded herself for firing without thinking.

"Time and a place for everything, time and a place for everything," she whispered to herself until an explosion blast the crates beside her. She yelped and jumped back, just in time to stand up and see Diabolico laugh at her.

"Well, well, what do we have here? A little girl with a death wish. No matter, the rangers can wait, you will be just as fun to get rid of," Diabolico said.

'All the times these bad guys take to waste time talking, why'd I'd have to get scared NOW?' Lina asked herself as she backed away, not taking her eyes off the creature before her. Lina felt the fire blazing deep in her gut but she knew morphing was out of the question, that would just make her more vulnerable to Diabolico when the power attacked her body. Something, out of the corner of her eye, made the fire burn even more. She saw a fire forming near the rangers and knew that was her shot. She had to do a 'natural' morph rather than the one programmed into her morpher. Taking a deep breath, she knew now was the time to show what she could really do. She stopped backing up and started running towards Diabolico. This caught him off guard but he got ready to strike, only to have Lina do a perfect flip over him, then do a series of tumbles and flips away from him, back towards the rangers.

"Running won't do you any good girl," he said as he approached her.

"That's what you think," Lina said, feeling her old spark coming back to her. She quickly concentrated on the fire and was pleased when it almost immediately started to encircle her body.

"Lina, what are you doing?" Joel asked. She was concentrating too hard to answer as the fire spread over her body and engulfed her.

"NO!" Chad yelled, thinking she was burning alive. But really, the fire was bringing her to life. Running through her veins and igniting the power that was embedded in her. She didn't NEED the technology that Alagor had infected. She had the power within her but there was a time and a place to use that kind of power, and now was that time.

"STORM CALLERS, INFERNO BLAZE RANGER!" she cried, summoning a new call. The fire ignited into a more powerful blaze then quickly dispersed, leaving Lina clad in her red inferno ranger uniform, but with her blaze armor now embedded into her suit like it had been there from the beginning.

"What?" Kelsey said. Ms. Fairweather and Captain Mitchell's mouths gapped at the sight.

"She's a ranger too?" Ms. Fairweather asked, not really to anyone in particular. Lina came out of her stance and ran towards Diabolico. She leapt into the air and Diabolico was prepared to block her strike, but he was not prepared for his to disappear right in front of him.

"What? Where did you go?" he asked, looking around. Suddenly, he was blasted from the side and knocked off his feet.

"Bulls Eye!" Lina exclaimed happily as she carefully approached Diabolico. In the one second that Lina found herself relaxing, Diabolico jumped up and knocked her to the ground. Her weapons were knocked away from her and Diabolico had his sword pressed to her throat while Lina tried to push him off by clutching his hands. The rangers wanted to help but suddenly Vypra appeared with more Batlings.

"LINA! HOLD ON!" Chad cried, attempting to make his way to her.

"Yes, Lina, hold on, hold on while I take your life away," Diabolico taunted her. Lina smirked under her helmet.

'We'll see who's life is taken here,' she thought as she started to concentrate. Suddenly, Diabolico started screaming in pain. Anyone who turned to witnessed saw a stream of energy flowing from him into Lina. Lina's body was jerking from all the evil energy she was draining into her.

"LINA!" the rangers cried.

"Diabolico!" Vypra yelled. Lina finally had enough and launched Diabolico off of her. She couldn't withstand all the evil energy flowing around inside of her. She concentrated it into one large energy ball as quickly as she could and launched it into the nearby ocean, collapsing in exhaustion as her morph left her. The rangers ran to her side, Chad lifting her up into his arms. They quickly regained themselves and turned their attention to Vypra and Diabolico. Only the winged woman was kneeling next to her apparent unconscious master. She glared at the rangers.

"You WILL pay for this," she said before disappearing, along with Diabolico and the Batlings.

"That is so getting old," Lina whispered. Chad let his face mask drop as he looked at the girl in his arms.

"Are you okay? What was all that?" he asked desperately. Lina just smiled and squeezed his hand.

"Time and a place for everything just like you said. It was time to fight," she said softly. Each word got softer and softer until she finally fell into unconsciousness. The rangers didn't notice the small glow in her pocket and her next stone appeared. A few hours later found Lina waking up in her room at the base. She moved around tried to stretch but found something in her way. That something was Chad resting his head on the bed. Her movement bolted him awake and it took him a second to register that Lina was awake.

"Hey you, how are you feeling?" he asked. Lina groaned a little and stretched.

"I'm okay. Sore, but okay. What's this?" she asked, noticing a small package next to Chad's hand.

"Oh, this, I was going to give it to you on our date but I didn't get a chance," he said before handing it to her. Lina smiled at the somewhat familiar but new gift. There were several pictures of her and the other rangers, particular a few with just her and Chad. And there was a small whale charm to add to her ever growing charm bracelet.

"Thank you," she said as she clipped the charm to her bracelet, then took the blue ranger's hand in her own.

"Why didn't you tell me? And don't say it," he warned, not wanting to hear his own words fire back at him. Lina chuckled.

"It was dangerous for me to morph the old fashioned way, so I figured it was safer not to say anything. I didn't feel right keeping it from you just to let you know, but I guess it was the best way to go," Lina said. Suddenly, the familiar portal started to open up on the other side of the room, taking Lina and Chad completely by surprise.

"What is that?" Chad asked, moving to look at it as Lina stood up and felt around in her pockets. Her eyes widened in surprise when she felt her next stone in her pocket.

"How long have I been unconscious?" she asked.

"About two hours, why?" Chad asked. Lina grimaced sadly and placed the stone back in her pocket, then picked up her package.

"It's time for me to go," she said sadly. Chad was flabbergasted.

"Go! Go where? Why can't you stay here?" he asked sadly, not the least bit angry though.

"My place right now is to finish my mission and I can't stay and do that. I need to find my way home, just like you need to stay here and fight. I'm sorry," Lina said, looking into the blue ranger's eyes, hoping she wouldn't leave with him angry at her. Even though it hurt to accept it, Chad knew she was speaking the truth. His only response was to finish something he didn't get to earlier. Swiftly, he pulled Lina to his and covered her mouth with his. The kiss escalated into one of pure passion in less than three seconds. The two reluctantly parted, panting at the shock of the sudden kiss and the passion behind it.

"Say good bye to the others for me?" Lina asked. Chad nodded suddenly, trying to keep himself together. Lina pressed her lips gently to his again before running into the portal, the light flashing and the portal closing as Chad watched her disappear.

"Good luck Lina," he said quietly before turning and walking out of the room. He needed to find his teammates and share the news of Lina with them. He stuck his hands in his pocket as he walked, only to find a note inside of one. He took it out and opened the piece of paper.

"Chad-

Don't even ask me how I got this in your pocket, I'm just good. I didn't want you to go on without knowing more about me than I had a chance to explain. So from one ranger to another, and from one friend to another, here's my story……."

Chad smiled as he read the note Lina had mysteriously managed to slip him before she left. It calmed his nerves to read about how she became a ranger and get to know her a little bit better through her letter. He sighed once he finished it.

"Good luck Inferno Ranger," he said once again, smiling at the memories of her and wondered what was in store for her on the rest of her mission.


	21. Force Of Time

Disclaimer: what do you think it is?

CHAPTER 21

Force of Time

Lina floated through the familiar time realm, thinking about the experiences she had just had in the Light Speed zone and wondering what awaited her in the Time Force realm. She got the sudden vibe that signaled her descent into the next realm and braced herself for what she hoped would be a smooth landing. The flash of light and shuffle of entering a new atmosphere as she closed her eyes and found her feet planted firmly on the ground. She carefully opened her eyes and sighed in relief when she realized she hadn't been planted in front of a large crowd that saw her appear out of nowhere. Her relief was short lived when she heard sirens and a loud "FREEZE"! She quickly took note that a pathway to her left was a dead end unless you were able to jump about forty or fifty some off feet over a fence. She quickly peeked around the corner and saw the Silver Guardians blocking the pathway of a large monster and several Cyclobots. She saw Eric in the red beret distinguishing him in the leadership position and his morpher occupying his right wrist. This gave her a pretty good idea of the timeline she entered into during the Time Force era.

"Silver Guardians, you are under arrest!" Eric declared to the large monster. Lina rolled her eyes.

"Yea right, like that's going work that easily," she whispered sarcastically. She continued to watch the situation unfold, knowing she would pick the right time to get involved if she was needed. The monster laughed and held up a device that everyone assumed was a weapon at first but Lina's breath caught in her throat when she realized that so-called weapon looked suspiciously like a Storm Caller morpher. She knew it wasn't hers because it was clutched in her pocket so her basic conclusion at that split second was that it was one of her teammate's. Lina didn't even stop to think about morphing before bolting from her hiding spot. She was so quick that she didn't give anyone time to respond. She tapped into her telekinetic powers.

"Hey Goldilocks!" she screamed to the monster that oddly enough had gold hair on top of its ugly features. The monster, the Cyclobots, and the Silver Guardians all turned their attention to Lina, who had appeared out of nowhere to them. Lina thrusted her hands outwards, causing all the Cyclobots to launch through the air, causing confusion among the monster and the Silver Guardians. In that split second, Lina did a flip over the monster, grabbing the supposed morpher as she went and landed front of him, blocking the firing range between the Silver Guardians and the monster.

"Hold your fire!" Eric screamed, not wanting to shoot the mysterious girl as he witnessed her maneuver away from the monster but seemed to avoid the Silver Guardians. What he didn't realize was that Lina was calculating a way to destroy the monster, escape without being seen, and avoiding blowing up the cars and the people. Much to the shock of all the Silver Guardians, even Eric, Lina created an energy ball in a matter of second.

"INFERNO BLAZE!" she cried before driving her fist and the energy ball in the ground. The blast directed a path straight at the monster and blew him to pieces. The blast caused the Silver Guardians to duck down to avoid any debris and Lina took the chance to jump onto one of the cars, climb to the other side, and run away from the scene. She was long gone by the time Eric looked up to see what remained of the monster, if anything. All he saw was a fiery pile of black stuff that had once been a terror. It registered in his mind that he didn't see the girl and he looked around, wondering if she had been hurt in her own attack but it quickly dawned on him that she had run off. The Cyclobots had been destroyed by Lina's powerful telekinetic attack.

"MOVE OUT! FIND THAT GIRL!" he screamed to the cadets. They quickly left the scene and Eric followed shortly after. He wasn't sure what to think of this girl. He knew as the leader of the Silver Guardians he needed to find that device she had stolen, in case it was a threat to the city. The fact that she wanted it and took it made him wonder if she was a threat, especially with the power she displayed. He wasn't sure what to think of that theory since she hadn't attacked him or any of the Silver Guardians. As he drove off, Eric saw the clock tower in the distance and he pondered on whether or not to consult Wes and the other rangers in this matter.

Meanwhile, Lina had found her way to the town square in no time flat. She checked around for any Silver Guardians. Any that were around, and it wasn't that many, wasn't aware of the attack or her yet so she knew she was safe enough to rest by the fountain. She picked up her communication/survival device and used it like a phone to contact Zeek.

"Lina, what's wrong?" Zeek asked, not used to her calling him.

"Zeek, are any of the guys missing their morpher?" Lina asked him seriously but quietly so no one would hear her.

"No, they're all present and accounted for. The technology was cleared of that virus Alagor put in it shortly after you left the Lightspeed realm so I'm positive of all the boys still being in possession of theirs. Why?" Zeek asked.

"A monster in this realm had something that looked a lot like our morphers. I managed to get a hold of it but only because I thought it was one of the guy's," Lina explained. Zeek was silent for a moment and Lina knew that meant he was thinking.

"Well, hold on to it but don't try to experiment with it by using it. I'm going to run some scans and see what I can find," Zeek said.

"Whatever you say Zeek," Lina said tiredly. She ended the call and sighed as she sat down on the bench near the fountain. She had to admit that Silver Hills was a nice looking city, much like all the other towns and her own as well.

"Why do all the nice looking towns get attack?" she asked herself quietly. Her attention was drawn away when a Frisbee landed in her lap. She picked it up and looked around to find the owner. To her amazement, it was actually Trip, whose green hair gave him away immediately.

"Sorry about that," he said, running up to her with that cute smile that could make any girl melt. Lina smiled and just handed it back to him.

"No problem," she said. Trip couldn't seem to get his eyes off her but decided to keep his friendly demeanor rep going.

"I'm Trip," he said, extending his hand in greetings. Lina took it and did the traditional shaking in response.

"I'm Lina, nice to meet you," she replied. Trip smiled back at her.

"Right back at you. Do you want play Frisbee with me and my friends?" he asked. Lina knew that his friends meant the other rangers but it actually sounded like fun. Trip immediately recognized the enthusiasm in her voice when a familiar beeping went off and he grimaced. Lina knew she needed to play dumb this time around.

"Problem?" she asked.

"Um, yea, that's my beeper. I've got to go. We'll probably be back here later today if you still want to play," he offered, trying to not grab too many questions from Lina. She smiled, recognizing this tactic.

"Sounds good, I'll see you later," she said, noticing the weight that seemed to be lifted off of his shoulders when she didn't ask him too many questions.

"Bye!" he cried as he ran off to join his friends. Lina waited a few minutes before scanning the city, realizing that this was a fight she probably needed to be involved in. She grabbed the strange new morpher and held it in her hand.

"I hope I won't get desperate enough to try you out before I know what you do," she said before slipping it back into her pocket. She shifted into familiar motions after checking to see if anyone was around.

"STORM CALLERS! GO! POWER OF THE INFERNO!" she cried, morphing into her familiar red suit and going off to assist the Time Force Rangers, not realizing the power she held in her pocket in the form of the mysterious new morpher.


	22. The Unity Morpher

Disclaimer: the usual

CHAPTER 22

The Unity Morpher

The Time Force Rangers were struggling slightly with this particular fight. Not only were the Cyclobots and the new monster running muck, but Ransik had joined in the fight, apparently after some type of device the rangers were clueless about. Ransik gripped Lucas by the neck and brought him close as the blue ranger struggled for the air.

"Where is she punk? Where's the girl with the power source?" Ransik asked harshly, squeezing little by little on Lucas's neck. Lucas tried to answer that he had no clue but a blast shocked Ransik's grip on him, opening up his airway as he coughed and tried to recover. Katie ran to his side as the others saw Eric racing toward the fight.

"QUANTUM POWER!" he cried as he ran, morphing into his suit as he engaged in battle. Wes and Eric ended up fighting side by side, right when Ransik approached them.

"Where's the girl, rangers?" he demanded once more.

"What girl?" Wes asked simply. Ransik noticed that Eric was thinking which he in fact was. He was wondering if Ransik meant the same girl he had seen earlier. Ransik zeroed in on the Quantum Ranger.

"Where is she!" he bellowed, snapping Eric out of his trance. He stepped away cautiously.

"Huh? How should I know? She ran away after destroying monster. Why do you want to know anyway?" Eric demanded. Ransik growled.

"She has something of mine," he answered before taking a step towards the two rangers, only to be stopped short by a new voice.

"Well if you want it, just ask for it instead of running around crazy," came a new voice. Everyone turned to see Lina, wearing her Red Inferno Ranger suit standing nearby. It did not click immediately to anyone what Lina had said. The only thing that registered was that there was a mysterious new ranger in front of them, which completely disgusted Ransik.

"CYCLOBOTS!" he commanded. The minions immediately knew what he wanted. They all turned and started towards Lina, who did not move, knowing what she was doing. When they were crowded around her, only inches away, she again used her telekinesis and launched the whole lot of them backwards. She knew she shouldn't over use any one power because of running low on energy. So she immediately went into fight mode right after the Cyclobots launched backwards, fighting off the few that weren't destroyed in the attack. Ransik growled and motioned towards his monster, who made his way towards Lina. Now she could never get tired of her Inferno Blaze attack. She landed on her feet after double side kicking two Cyclobots and quickly formed an energy ball, recalling the previous fight in Eric's mind.

"It's her!" he screamed. Wes glanced at him questioningly before turning his attention back to the new ranger. The energy ball was huge and she formed a fist with it.

"INFERNO BLAZE!" she cried before slamming the energy ball into the ground, creating a fault line that blew up the monster beyond any kind of repair. Ransik, realizing it was him against seven rangers now, disappeared back to his lair. Lina, however, had disappeared again during the commotion of her blast. All the rangers looked around in confusion and for anymore sign of danger. They were also seeing if there might be a clue or sign of the new ranger. Wes turned to the baffled Quantum Ranger.

"What did you mean by, 'It's her'?" he asked as the other rangers crowded around them. Eric sighed.

"Let's go back to the clock tower and I'll explain everything there," he said. The others silently agreed and followed each other back to their home/headquarters. Meanwhile, Lina had let go of her morph and was just wondering around Silver Hills aimlessly, debating about whether or not to confront the rangers as herself yet or not. Her thoughts slipped back to the new morpher when her communicator box went off. She grabbed it from her pocket and opened up the screen to reveal Zeek.

"Zeek, what's up? You usually pop out of nowhere and scare the crap out of me," Lina said sarcastically though slightly bitterly to her mentor. Zeek just sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I think I found the information on that new morpher. If this is correct, then you found the Unity Morpher," Zeek explained. One of Lina's eyebrows shot up in a questioning glance.

"Unity Morpher?" she repeated, unsure of what to make of that.

"Yes, the Unity Morpher. It's a morpher designed for it's user to morph with the merged powers of one particular ranger team for a temporary amount of time," Zeek continued to explain.

"So basically I could morph as the Red Inferno Ranger but be powered by the energy of all the Time Force Rangers?" she asked, trying to understand what he was explaining.

"Yes, but only if they are willing to let you have it. Which means you'd have to gain the trust of every team member in order for it to work," Zeek said. Lina's face fell.

"I knew there was a catch," she muttered. Zeek frowned at this response.

"You haven't had a problem before with that," Zeek said. Lina held the box up with one hand and placed the other on her hip.

"Would you like to come and meet Eric, the Quantum Ranger whose boxers are on too tight?" she asked sarcastically but with noticeable sincerity. Zeek chuckled.

"If anyone can do it you can," Zeek said simply. Lina sneered.

"Oh, now you go to wise Sensei mode," she said sarcastically but Zeek had known her long enough to know she was only joking with him because she was tired.

"Good luck," he said before cutting the call off. Lina groaned and switched the box off, stuffing it back into her pocket. It was only then that she noticed she was across the street from the clock tower. She bit her lip in anticipation, debating on whether or not to go up there.

"Oh, what the heck?" she said to herself before crossing the street and heading towards the door. Meanwhile, Eric was pacing back and forth, finishing up his story of what happened with Lina earlier and why he thought the mysterious new ranger was her.

"So do you have any idea what this power source she stole from the monster is?" Katie asked.

"No clue. We weren't even chasing the monster for that in the first place. We didn't know he had that until he brought it out and the girl took it," Eric said.

"Well she's obviously not working for Ransik but that doesn't mean we're any safer with it in her hands," Lucas added to the conversation.

"But she's a ranger. Should we really be so concerned?" Trip asked.

"There have been evil rangers in the past Trip," Wes pointed out. Jen let out an annoyed sigh and groaned.

"This isn't getting us anywhere. We need to find her. Eric can you give me a description of her so we can run a scan of the city?" Jen asked as she walked to the computer and set down. Eric thought for a moment.

"Okay, dark blonde hair and little past the shoulders, she's about 5'5'' or 5'6'' but she was moving kind of fast so I could be wrong. Uh, she's not heavy set but she isn't bone thin so, um, I guess 130 to 140 pounds…," Eric explained before trailing off. All the rangers except Trip were looking at either Jen or Eric, who were both preoccupied in their tasks of remembering and typing.

"Was she wearing khakis, a small white shirt, and a blue flannel over shirt?" Trip asked suddenly. Eric frowned and looked at him.

"Yea she was. How did you know that?" he asked. Trip pointed to the door and all the rangers turned to see Lina leaning on the doorframe glancing into the room.

"Um, hi," she said, slightly nervously. Eric glared suspiciously at her.

"How'd you get in here?" he asked. Lina just glanced at him.

"The door and then the stairs," she replied bluntly, getting a slight laugh out of Trip, Wes, and Katie. Lucas tried to hide his smile. Jen just got up from her seat and went to stand in front of Eric before he did anything stupid.

"We have some questions for you," she said in her best Time Force leader voice.

"Let's have them," Lina replied simply.


	23. Trust In Me

Disclaimer: the usual….this chapter gets slightly dark but only for a little bit…so like, if it's necessary, consider this chapter solely a higher rating than the rest of the story. If I'm just being overly cautious, then oh well, enjoy.

CHAPTER 23

Trust In Me

"This is ridiculous," Eric muttered after Lina had explained her story for the third time to the disbelieving rangers.

"What was that Quantum Boy?" Lina asked dryly. Eric glared at her before standing up to stare her down.

"And just how exactly are we supposed to believe that you are from a realm where our lives are a television show?" Eric asked, thinking he caught her. Lina's facial expression did not change as she answered him simply.

"About the same way anyone from this time believes that the four of them are from the year 3000," she said. Eric's face fell. There was no way to beat around the bush then because she had just stated a valid point. That didn't mean he liked it any better though. Katie, Wes, Lucas, and Trip had all taken an immediate liking to Lina. Jen was not full out disliking her. It was just in her nature to be cautious at first but she seemed to be leaning towards liking her with the rest of the group. Eric, as usual, was a completely different story.

"She's telling the truth rangers," Circuit interjected. Lina was a little curious as how the little bird was able to know that when he was from a different realm also.

"I've been programmed to know everything about ranger teams, from different planets and different realms. Although the Storm Callers are the first known team from a completely different realm than us. You guys are looking at the Red Inferno Storm Caller Power Ranger, and the only girl on the team," Circuit explained, reassuring his team. Lina gave a nervous side smirk. She was never going to get used to the information known between the realms. Eric huffed.

"This is so stupid!" he declared before storming out of the Clock Tower. Lina just glanced after him before turning back to the rangers.

"What is his problem?" she asked. Even though she an idea based on what she knew from the television show, there's only so much you could gather on the characters from that alone. Wes sighed.

"He's not used to having to trust people. It takes a lot and if you get to know him a little, you'll understand why," he said. The other rangers had mixed expressions of confusion and understanding. Lina instantly knew why. She realized Eric had only recently been mixed in with the team, so they were still getting to know him a little bit but still had a long ways to go. Wes knew him better than anyone.

"So, um, where are you staying?" Katie asked, interrupting the depressing conversation. Lina's face fell a little.

"I haven't really had a chance to think about that," she replied honestly.

"Well, you're welcome to stay here," Jen offered. The pink ranger's offer took Lina a little by surprise, as she thought Jen was cautious about her. But maybe she was learning to trust her but still keeping her nearby just to be on the safe side.

"Thanks," Lina replied, smiling. Lina settled into a routine for a few days, helping the rangers out with the odd jobs that came in and fighting alongside them in battle. It was getting frustrating because Lina had no clue what the whole point of this realm. Even though she knew it would be clear in the end, patience was not one of her virtues when time was ticking away for her to get back home and save her home. She decided to seek Eric out herself and see what the deal was. She walked over to the Silver Guardians headquarters and suddenly found herself getting nervous.

"Since when am I shy, what is my problem?" she asked herself before entering the facility. She looked around cautiously, noticing some of the cadets glancing at her, unsure as to whether they were suspicious of her or were checking her out. She walked up to the front desk.

"Um, I'm here to see Eric Meyers," she told the woman at the front desk.

"Is he expecting you?" she asked flatly.

"Um, no," Lina responded.

"Then, I'm sorry, you'll have to make an appointment in order to see him," she responded, yet again flatly, seriously ticking Lina off. Lina sighed and walked back outside, unaware of the three cadets following her. She was so focused on how she could locate Eric, wondering if the device Zeek gave her could get a lock on him, that she was taken completely by surprise when a strong pair of arms grabbed her from behind. She struggled but the guy the arms belonged to locked her hands and arms behind her in the exact way she always had trouble getting out of. And he was holding her so tightly that Lina had trouble using her legs that she was in so much pain. He dragged her slightly out of the street and into an alley that Lina hadn't even noticed before. She glanced up when she heard chuckling and saw the other two cadets that had apparently been following her.

"Well well, what have we got here?" one asked rhetorically, glancing her over in a way that Lina hated. The other one walked up and ran his hand from Lina's neck, down her body, roughly taking in her curves and touching her in places that she didn't like anyone touching her.

"Nice firm body," he said, grinning happily. The guy who was holding clutched her tighter, causing Lina to arch up in pain, involuntarily shoving her chest out more. The other two licked their lips like the perverts they were. Lina could feel herself getting weaker and knew she would pass out any second now. One guy started ripping open her shirt but she wasn't tired enough not to notice when he stopped. She was too disoriented from the pain to see clearly but she felt the bigger guy let go of her and she collapsed to the ground, hearing a lot of scuffling and fighting nearby. Before she could clear her vision, everything went dark. She started to come to a few hours later. She woke up and took in the surroundings from the couch she was sprawled out on. Her ripped shirt was folded nearby and had apparently been sewn back together. She looked down and noticed someone had changed her into a very large shirt that was similar to the ones all of the Silver Guardians wore. She carefully sat up, still in some pain and noticed that she was in an office.

"What happened?" she asked out loud.

"You almost got raped," came a familiar voice. Lina looked over at the door and saw Eric standing there in his uniform, no beret, and had few of the buttons undone in a sad attempt to try and relax a little.

"How could this have happened? I'm a ranger, stuff like this isn't supposed to get to me, I'm supposed to be strong enough to fight off crap like that," she said, not thinking before she spoke. Eric walked over and sat down next to her.

"That's the sad thing. No matter how strong you are, crap like that can happen to anybody and apparently they caught you off guard enough to almost go through with it," Eric explained. Lina rolled her eyes and sneered at herself.

"I've never been able to get out of that hold," she said disgustingly.

"I could teach you," Eric offered. Lina looked at him in surprise.

"Really?" she asked. Eric nodded.

"I saw how the guy was holding you. I can teach how to get out of that hold like it's nothing," he said. Lina nodded in appreciation.

"So you were the one who fought them off?" she asked. Eric stopped and stumbled a little before nodding, a little embarrassed to be named the rescuer. Lina smiled, leaned in, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, taking him completely by surprise as well as herself, but she was able to keep her cool better than Eric did.

"Thank you," she said simply. She saw a hint of red wash over Eric's cheeks before he tried to recover himself.

"So, um, what were you doing here anyway?" he asked. Lina got a little embarrassed and bit her lower lip.

"I came to see you," she said quietly. Eric glanced at her.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I want you to trust me," Lina said out flatly. She didn't know why it bothered her so much that he didn't, despite the fact she would need it to use the Unity Morpher but she wasn't even sure if she would need that for this realm.

"I hate to say it, but that's a lot to ask from me," Eric said dryly.

"Could you at least try? I mean, I trust you, all I want is for you to trust in me too," Lina said. Eric glanced at her, a little taken back by her words. No one had ever straight out admitted to him that they trusted him. He gave a small smile.

"Okay," he replied. Lina smiled back at him. Now they were getting somewhere.


	24. Time To Trust

Disclaimer: Don't own anything except Lina and her fellow rangers and anything related to them. Many apologies twice over for the delay. I've got an eight to five job Monday through Friday, so I'll try to update once to twice weekly, around the weekends. Thanks to everyone who still reads this and reviews.

CHAPTER 24

Time to Trust

"Okay, they've got you in this lock. I know it's hard but you've got to try and relax Lina," Eric instructed as he and Lina went through their training sessions for the fourth straight hour.

'Yea right,' Lina thought, trying not to roll her eyes where Eric could see. She always thought of herself to be the best ranger she could be but there was no mistaken that she was a girl and being as tired as she was and having a hunk of man like Eric as close to her as he was made it hard to keep her hormones in check. But as much as she was feeling that, she knew Eric wouldn't be more than a brother type friend to her. Lina breathed in and out to calm herself down and relax. She concentrated and maneuvered and eventually had Eric on his back, pinning him to the floor with her knee on his chest and hands ready to strike as if she was in a real battle. Eric caught his breath then smiled and started chuckling. Lina relaxed and moved her knee to the other side of him, just straddling him and laughing with him.

"The student has become the teacher," he said, laughing. Lina laughed and tried to catch her breath at the same time.

"Man, it's been so long since I've had a good, regular workout like that," she said, reveling in the good time she was having in the Time Force realm. Playfully slapping her hip, Eric moved to get up as Lina got off of him. He offered his hand to her and pulled her up, throwing his arm around her shoulder, as a friend/brother would to a girl.

"Well, why don't we go get something to eat with the others? My treat," Eric offered. Lina smiled at that.

"Sounds good to me," Lina said as they walked to the Silver Guardians locker rooms to change. A short time later, Eric and Lina met the others at an outdoor café where they enjoyed a nice lunch together. Just when they thought the day would go off without a hitch, they heard screams from around the corner. Instantly on their feet, all seven rangers ran to the scene to see Cyclobots, Ransik, Nadira, and some type of new monster that was a giant mix of muscle and metal.

"Ah, rangers, say hello to my little friend, Mus-tal. The end has come at last," Ransik said, as he and Nadira broke out in evil laughter.

"Don't they ever come up with new things to say," Lina sneered.

"Cyclobots, attack!" Nadira cried. The hoard of minions ran at the rangers.

"Let's go!" Wes cried. The seven rangers engaged in civilian battle, easily gaining upper hand. Though they were still tired, Eric and Lina fought the best and took out more than half the Cyclobots. Mus-tal and Ransik approached Lina. She got in a defensive stanch in front of them.

"Hand over the power source!" Ransik demanded.

"Uh..no!" Lina replied. Mus-tal approached her and Lina went into her most powerful and forceful kick to his abdomen, which sent her flying back onto her butt.

"Ow!" she screamed, realizing this wasn't going to be a piece of cake. Her air circulation seemed to empty immediately when Mus-tal clutched her throat with her powerful hand and picked her right off the group. Struggling for breath, Lina clutched at his hand to try and loosen it.

"I'll give you one more chance. Give me the power source," Ransik demanded, knowing there was no way out of this one for her.

"LINA! QUANTUM POWER!" Eric cried as he ran towards them, morphing in mid air. He blasted at Mus-tal. It hardly phased him but bothered him enough to drop Lina. Eric got in front of Lina, who struggled to get her breath back.

"HA!" Eric cried as he engaged in an immediately losing battle with Mus-tal. It gave the others time to get in on the action.

"TIME FOR TIME FORCE!" they cried, morphing into their familiar red, blue, green, yellow, and pink spandex suits. Lina was still disoriented from the lack of oxygen as the rangers fought as hard as they could to hold off Mus-tal, but they didn't even make a dent in him. Lina knew that even if she had the strength to morph, it wouldn't make it difference. What were they going to do? She snapped back into reality when she heard Ransik laughing.

"No matter Rangers. I will have that power source before too long," Ransik said before he, Mus-tal, and Nadira disappeared. The tired rangers limped back over to Lina, who had gotten up enough strength to get to her knees. Eric, despite his injuries, helped Lina to her feet.

"Let's go back and regroup," Jen said. They made their way back to the clock tower. Whatever injuries needed to be, they bandaged them up and tried to get their strength back. Eric looked over and saw Lina sitting on the ledge, looking out over the city. Clutching his arm, he walked over to the window and scooted up next to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Lina tried to hold her emotions together.

"I should've gotten up to help you. I'm sorry," she said, feeling too ashamed to look at him. Eric lifted her chin so that she would look at him.

"You were hurt. If you had gotten up and tried to help, you would've gotten hurt worse. I trust you enough that you would've done something had you thought you could," he said. Lina was stunned.

"What did you just say?" she asked. Eric looked into her eyes.

"I trust you. And so do the others," he said sincerely. Lina did not have time to react before Circuit's alarm went off.

"RANGERS, Mus-tal is attacking the square!" he cried.

"Let's go!" Lucas cried.

"Time for Time Force!"

"Quantum Power!"

"Storm Callers, Go! Power of the Inferno!" The rangers were at the square in no time and were immediately greeted with a bunch of Cyclobots. Despite being tired, they were easy to take down but they immediately greeted by Mus-tal.

"Okay, plan time, I'm open for ideas," Trip said.

"Lend me your powers!" Lina immediately said. The rangers were stunned.

"What!" they asked.

"Lend me your powers. If I fight with the combined powers of seven rangers, plus the power of the Unity morpher, I have a chance to take this guy down. But that's only if you guys trust me enough," Lina said, looking at all of them. Eric didn't even think twice, taking the others by surprise.

"What do I need to do?" he asked. Lina smiled under her helmet.

"Transfer your powers into this morpher," Lina said, as she strapped the Unity Morpher onto her other wrist. She held it out.

"Quantum power!" Eric cried, draining his power into her morpher. After a few seconds, his suit disappeared and he collapsed in exhaustion. Lina wanted to bend down and make sure he was all right but knew there wasn't enough time. She turned to the others and could tell they were ready.

"Red Time Force Power!"

Blue Time Force Power!"

Green Time Force Power!"

"Yellow Time Force Power!"

"Pink Time Force Power!" The rest of their powers drained into her unity morpher and their suits left them.

"Inferno Power Transfer!" Lina cried, immediately feeling an energy boost. Her powers transferred into the morpher.

"UNITY MORPHER ONLINE!" she cried. The power surged through her veins as a whirlwind of power engulfed her body. When it disappeared, she was in a gold suit, much like her Inferno Blaze suit.

"Bring it on ugly!" she cried to Mus-tal.

"Oh, I'm scared!" he cried as he approached her. Lina stood her ground and delivered a powerful palm strike to his chest, sending him flying into Ransik.

"Get off you tub of lard!" Ransik cried. Mus-tal scrambled off him and got to his feet.

"Destroy her and don't come back without that power source!" Ransik cried before disappearing. Mus-tal nodded his head in understanding and approached Lina once again. This time Lina engaged in a furious battle with him. Kicks and punches flew, an equal and exciting battle went on between the two warriors, keeping the other rangers on their toes. Then, the worst happened, when Mus-tal caught Lina by surprise by getting her in the hand lock she had been working on with Eric.

"No," he whispered, seeing her in trouble.

"AGH!" Lina cried. Mus-tal laughed, feeling as if he had caught her.

"LINA, RELAX, YOU CAN DO IT!" Eric cried, not knowing what else to tell her. Lina fought through the pain and focused on the trust the Time Force Rangers had in her and the hope her own teammates had in her to come back with all the stones for the sword. Without realizing, she swiftly broke through the hand hold and knocked Mus-tal to his feet. Not even giving him enough time to recover, she called for her weapon.

"UNITY SWORD!" she cried, sticking her hand up in the air. A glow from the sky came before a bolt of lightning struck her hand, causing a sword to appear.

"UNITY STRIKE, TIME FORCE MODE!" she cried, sending one powerful energy strike over Mus-tal's body. Before the Time Force Ranger's eyes, Mus-tal's body was engulfed in flames and incinerated right before their eyes. Lina felt the familiar warm glow in her pocket and knew she had the next stone. Since her task was fulfilled, the powers from the unity morpher transferred back to the Time Force morphers. The suit disappeared from Lina and she approached her friends. When their powers had returned to them, they got their energy back. It was bittersweet to see them so happy.

"All right, you did it!" Trip cried happily. Lina shook her head.

"We did it. I couldn't have made a dent in him without your trust," Lina said.

"Well, what now?" Katie asked. Lina sighed sadly.

"I only have a few hours," she said, the others immediately knowing what that meant.

"Well let's make the most of it," Eric said, giving her a small smile. Lina smiled and the others agreed. Over the next two hours, they had a great time at the clock tower, devouring pizza and goodies, dancing, laughing, taking pictures and giving Lina a traditional gift of a charm for her bracelet, one resembling the clock tower.

"Thank you guys, for everything," Lina said right before the portal opened up. She gave everyone a meaningful, thoughtful hug. Until she got to Eric, she gave a smile and looked into his eyes.

"You're a lot more attractive when you learn to trust people," she said teasingly. She gave the smiling Quantum ranger a hug before giving him an affectionate kiss on the cheek, which he gladly returned.

"Take care," she said to all them before walking through the portal to the next journey.


	25. Forever Bonded

Disclaimer: I don't own power rangers…I only own Lina, Zeek, all the Storm Callers and anything you don't recognize. I changed the plot of this episode a little. Leo and Aurico meet the other rangers on Earth. Also, big thanks so everyone who suggested "Forever Red" be a part of my story because I originally wasn't going to. Props to you. God Bless! –Storm2003

CHAPTER 25

Forever Bonded

Lina opened her eyes after feeling the warmth of the portal disappear from around here, signaling her arrival into what was supposed to be the Wild Force realm. However, when she opened her eyes, she didn't see anyone around what appeared to be an almost deserted air strip/hanger base.

"Zeek?" she called.

"Yes?" he asked from out of nowhere. Lina was so used to this that she didn't even turn around.

"Where am I?" she asked, still a little confused.

"The Wild Force realm," he answered simply. Lina finally turned to him with an annoyed sneer.

"Then why am I in a deserted airplane hanger base?" she asked, a little attitude radiating from her voice.

"It's not as deserted as you may think," Zeek said before disappearing. Lina tried to stop him but he of course got out of the way before she could stop him.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" she asked sarcastically before turning to the hanger she was nearest to. She heard a bunch of excited shouting and carefully inched her way towards the open hanger door. What she saw made her jaw drop but a smile come upon her face. There were eight really familiar faces and then two semi-familiar faces of Cole, the Red Wild Force Ranger, and Aurico, the Red Alien Ranger. She recognized Jason, a little bit older than when she saw him last, when he looked up in her direction. She knew because of the time traveling she probably looked a little bit older to him too, but not as much in years.

"Lina?" he asked, shocked beyond belief. Lina's face broke out into a smile bigger than one she had worn for a long time. She ran up to the original red ranger, who had realized that it was her and put out his arms to engulf her in a hug. The second she was in his arms, he lifted her up and spun her around, laughing in happiness as he had thought he would never see the mysterious Inferno Ranger again. The affectionate display caught the attention of all the other rangers, especially Tommy, TJ, Andros, Leo, Carter, Wes, and Eric. Cole and Aurico stood back as the other male red rangers exchanged hugs and occasional friendly kisses on the cheek with the lone female red ranger. After all the displays were exchanged, the smiling Lina turned to Cole and Aurico.

"I'm Lina Baxter, Red Inferno Ranger," she said, smiling and putting her hand out. Aurico and Cole were slightly confused, but seeing the others smiling and nodding that she was all right put them at ease. Aurico shook her hand and Cole smiled his heart melting smile and shook her hand excitedly. Lina smiled and turned to Tommy.

"Got room for one more on this mission?" she asked, realizing that she had been launched into the "Forever Red" saga of the Wild Force series. Tommy smiled.

"You know it," he replied. A short time later, Lina found herself back on the Astro Megaship. After being briefed on the mission and what was at stake, she wandered around, refamiliarizing herself with the beautiful sights of space. Surprisingly enough, as she was wandering the halls, she found a stray puppy sniffing around the windows.

"Hey little guy, what are you doing here?" she asked, picking up the small dalmation. The puppy wagged it's tail and licked Lina's face lovingly. Lina giggled just as Cole came around the corner.

"Oh there you are Copper," he said, walking up to pet the dog that was in Lina's arms. Lina smiled and gently handed the dog over.

"You're good with animals," Cole said while giving her that trademark smile of his. Lina blushed and tucked a hair behind shyly.

"Are you nervous about the mission?" Lina asked, trying to change the subject so she wouldn't be as nervous.

"No actually I'm thrilled. I'm among red ranger alumni and they wanted me along," Cole said. Lina tried to hold in a giggle and Cole child-like playfulness. A short bit of silence ensued before it was gratefully disrupted. Tommy came jogging around the corner and stopped when he saw the two.

"Hey Cole, we need you on the bridge for a second," he said.

"Okay, coming," Cole said, smiling at Lina as he walked off with Copper. Tommy gave Lina a brotherly wink and walked back towards the bridge with Cole. Lina smiled, took in a deep breath, and glanced out the window one more time, taking in the beautiful sights of the space. Then she turned to follow the guys to the bridge only to run right into Zeek. The smacked so hard into him, she fell back on her butt.

"Argh," she growled at him.

"I would've thought you'd be more graceful by now," Zeek stated simply. Lina glared at him.

"I would've thought I'd have killed you by now. Why don't you wear a bell or something man? I can't handle you sneaking up on my like this," Lina said as she got up from the floor.

"And I need you to step down from fighting as much as possible in this mission," Zeek said suddenly. Lina looked at him as if he was nuts.

"Why? The whole point of this mission is for red rangers to fight against what's left of the machine empire," Lina stated.

"That's true but as the episode shows, they are successful without you," Zeek points out.

"But everything has shifted with me traveling through the realms so they may need me with this," Lina countered.

"They'll need you but not in the destruction of Serpentera. Cole will take care of that. What I need you to do is to pay attention to what happens after Serpentera," Zeek explains.

"Why? What's so significant about that?" Lina asked. Zeek sighed, getting a little irritated.

"I'm not exactly sure but whatever happens will be essential to the fight you will have on Earth once you return and fight with Cole and the rest of the Wild Force Rangers," Zeek explains. Lina cocked on eyebrow.

"Wait, this doesn't count as my Wild Force fight?" Lina asked. Zeek rolled his eyes.

"No, this is one step towards your Wild Force fight, so technically you have to do two realms to get one stone even though you aren't really going to jump realms, you'll be here a while longer than normal," Zeek said.

"LINA!" cried a familiar voice, she turned around to see Andros.

"We're approaching our destination," he said before running back to the bridge.

"Okay, I'm coming," Lina said, trailing off as she turned around to talk to Zeek, only to find that he's gone. She dropped her arms in frustration.

"Great, and the wheels keep turning," she said sarcastically as she walked off to meet the other red rangers, wondering what this adventure had in store for her and also wondering how she could get Zeek off her back.


End file.
